Like A Dream
by athrna
Summary: CANON, slow development: set towards the end of the Third War. What if Minato and Kushina had another child before Naruto? What happened to Itachi for him to turn into the man we know? Why did Kakashi keep his mouth shut if he knew so much? [CH 20 - Team 13 bonding time: Okonomiyaki plus Shisui equals to awkward talks about pedophilia and marriage.]
1. Warzone

I do not own Naruto. Copyright to Kishimoto Masashi.

A/N: Feel free to make any comment. I value all opinion because you're worth it. (L'Oréal Paris ;D) The first few chapters are very short because they are introductory. You'll have to read on a bit more to get the whole story. Enjoy :)

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**Chapter 1 - Warzone**

_Why do people live in this world?_

_To me, life is just another bad dream._

Yuna was four years old when she first set foot into Konohagakure.

Crimson soared above the few clouds above at daybreak, marking the end of another intense battle during the Third Shinobi World War. Everywhere in the forest reeked of rotting flesh. Amidst all the corpses of those who failed to defeat their enemies, a child that looked to be of that playful age emerged from the mist of blood. For a while, she kept screaming helplessly and shook people who had fallen before her. No reactions. Wide eyes opened with tears running down her cheeks; she then looked up into the seemingly endless blood stained sky, startled. She was surrounded by many: parents, relatives, servants, and countless numbers of shinobi…Whether they were acquaintances or strangers, not one had a hiss of breath.

She could only hear her own accelerating heartbeats and crows' shrilling whines through merciless wind.

After what felt like eternity, the girl eventually saw a pair of welcoming hands reaching out to her. They were hands of a handsome young man. He had gentle facial features, blond hair which shined like the ray of dawn and sapphire blue eyes which were of slightly lighter colour of her own hair. The smile he had on his face was like the lisianthus flowers that her mother used to keep by the window. It was calming and heart-warming.

"Will you come with me?"

She nodded nimbly and timidly. Her tiny hand was clasped within the soothing hand of the man. Somehow, the warmth of his palm reached to the young girl's heart. She felt safe.

Travelling across rivers and through foresses, they arrived to the strong curtain walls. The girl was brought to a pair of green gates. With hiragana あん (an) printed on, the enormous iron columns were opened friendly. Konahagakure. Standing before the village entrance gate, the man kneeled down to the girl's height and spoke again in a soothing tone, with an encouraging smile:

"My name's Namikaze Minato, and you?"

She blinked, and he looked into her emerald green eyes, which were filled with grief and sorrow.

"Yuna…"

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**CREDITS TO MY BETA READERS! THEY ARE ABSOLUTE STARS!**


	2. Home

**Chapter 2 – Home**

Yuna was born in a time of war. War had overshadowed all over the lands. No matter where you lived, there was no sanctuary to be found. Everyone was a victim. If her mother had not hidden Yuna in the haystack, she would have just become another casualty of the Third Shinobi World War.

The man who saved her, Namikaze Minato, was a jonin from Konahagakure – the pillar of the village. While the renowned Yellow Flash, Konoha's almighty hero, was a fearful shinobi on battlefield, he was only an ordinary man behind closed door. He was a family man. Minato lived with his fiancé, Kushina, in a house not too far from the central. Kushina was a woman who always had a caring smile on her face. Her personality resembled that long, passionate, scarlet hair of hers. She was a very positive person. Day by day, Minato and Kushina's strong compassion had an effect on the little one; Yuna could not help herself but begin to smile along with them. To Yuna, the loving couple's benevolence was her sun. It lightened up her path. And what's more, they gave her a place to return to.

The day when Yuna was brought to Konoha, the Hokage put the little girl under surveillance. Foreign orphans were often rejected in the conservative Land of Fire. This was especially the case as it was during the Third War and war time orphans were often raised as spies, and so the Hokage had no choice but to rigorously investigate to prove the four-year-old's innocence, in order for her to be able to stay in the village. With repeated confirmations and sincere pleas from the blonde man, Yuna was finally permitted to start her new life as the adopted daughter of Namikaze Minato.

On that day, Minato picked up Yuna from the orphanage, held her hand, and took her to this place called "home."

They walked through the lively streets of Konoha in silence. On the surface, everything seemed to be going in the right direction. Despite the masses of bandage used to wrap up her tiny body and the bruises and wounds that were hard to miss, there were certainly improvements since last time they met. The blunette looked soulless. Looking at an angelic face with no facial expressions, Minato frowned, feeling deeply distressed.

He remembered the day clearly when he discovered the child amongst a pile of dead bodies. She was staring right back at him with stone-cold eyes. As someone who had experienced many battles, he had encountered countless of orphans in such situation either screaming or wailing desperately for salvation. But no, not even one of them was like this girl - so calm, so still, so emotionless in front of death. Perplexed by the unusual behaviour of the young girl, he held out his hands.

* * *

Time passed by. It had already been a month.

"Yuna-chan, be a good girl and put your coat on so you won't catch a cold!" Kushina said worriedly. The girl turned to the person speaking, with no trace of feeling on her baby face. Minato stood by the door, observing her empty expression.

"Yuna-chan, cheer up. You don't want that long face. It makes you look like a miserable adult," said Minato, half-amused.

She stood in silence. There was only one thought that passed through her head.

_I don't know how to smile._


	3. Adopted daughter

A/N: To all readers. I would like to improve my writing skills. So, if you have any comments and opinions, please review. It is much appreciated. :)

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**Chapter 3 – Adopted daughter**

One day, they had a visit from three young guests; Minato's students. They came to discuss their team's latest mission – the Kannabi Bridge. Yuna stood by the wooden threshold and watched the lousy teenager boys arguing over trivial matters.

"Kakashi, you're going down today," shouted the boy who wore orange goggles on his forehead across the room with acute determination.

"Forget it. How many more times do you have to try? Seriously, when will you learn?" The silver-haired person rolled his eyes and looked away, rather annoyed.

"Obito. And you, Kakashi. Knock it off, would you? Can't you guys at least try to get along with each other, even just for one day?" The short hair brunette who kept quiet finally spoke in attempt to break the tension between the two heated young men. Of course, as always, Rin failed. They were really noisy, as Yuna thought.

Being the usual, observant Kakashi, he noticed the little girl who quietly sat at the corner and looked puzzled. "Sensei, who is she?"

Before Minato could reply, Yuna had already gotten up and made her way in front of the three teenagers.

"I'm his adopted daughter," Yuna stated flatly.

"Really?" The trio were surprised and fascinated.

"She's an orphan I saved on the battlefield." Minato chuckled.

"What's your name?" Rin asked sweetly.

"Yuna."

"Which one, do you know?" Rin questioned further out of curiosity.

"Yume no Yuna." (夢の夢奈)

"What a cliché variation of the name. It's so retarded. Honestly, why would anyone want to call their daughter 'dream'?" the masked boy sneered.

"Well, _I_ think it's a _beautiful_ name. What's wrong with you, Kakashi? Take back your rude comment to the little girl. She did nothing to deserve it," the Uchiha defended the insulted child kindly and sympathetically.

"I was only expressing my personal opinion. Nothing more, nothing less."

"You wanna go, huh?"

"Any time, any day, but you still don't stand a chance."

"You little…"

Yuna eyed Kakashi coldly and said nothing. When their eyes met, Kakashi suddenly sensed chill running through his spines; the girl before him was indeed very peculiar. Unlike most people, the swarthiness of pupil occupied three-quarters of the girl's eyes, making her look empty. She was a doll without a soul. He did not understand how a four-year-old child managed to throw such shivering glares. Yet, he saw no trace of emotions in the darkness that lived deep within her eyes.

Yuna scanned everyone one last time before returning to her bedroom. When Minato was sighing anxiously, Rin could only nod in agreement with her sensei, to show her disapproval of the immature behaviour from the boys.


	4. Birthday

**Chapter 4 – Birthday**

A warm, yellow radiance gushed into the Namikaze household. It embraced every object within its reach as soon as the curtains were drawn. Mother Nature had cast away its morose wintry blanket and welcomed the season of revival and happiness with open arms. The sense of luxury and joy in the air filled every heart.

"Ah… just the perfect weather for today," said the red-haired woman as she stretched and yawned. It was a vivid spring day, a day when Konoha was not under major threats, an unusual but none the least, a rather peaceful day during the wartime. It was also the birthday of a certain girl whose imperial imperial blue hair was often plaited into a single long woven tress, placed on the side of her left shoulder. Just as both Minato and Kushina thought, unlike other children, who would ask for a big party and lots of presents, Yuna did not have many expectations on her birthday. Since the ones who gave her her life were no longer there with her, it had no meaning anymore. Yuna did not want to celebrate her birthday, or so she thought.

Her guardians were determined to change that.

They had a difficult time organising a party for the little girl. Whenever Kushina took Yuna out to meet new faces or even make new friends of her own age, they always came back in failure. In other children's eyes, Yuna was weird and no fun. When the other children suggested playing hide and seek, Yuna had no enjoyment and vice versa; she could spot them with ease, simply by looking around, and the game would be over within a minute or so. When the girls requested to play Princesses, she simply refused; this was one spiteful game she would never agree to play her role. There were also times, which ended up so badly that either Yuna demanded to leave the playground, or the other children ran to his or her parents in tears. The fact was, she was mentally way beyond her own peers.

Kushina gave up on the idea of inviting 'friends' who were not really her friends to the party. At the back of her mind, she had a rough idea how Yuna would react to that if she did. Even for Minato, the ANBU head captain, who had always completed his missions with victorious results, he would say this task was almost at the difficulty level of an A-rank mission, which normally required a considerable amount of thoughts and preparations. Fortunately, Rin kindly offered a solution to her sensei. Since Kakashi, Obito, and Rin herself got along better with Yuna than with children of her own age, all three of them would come to the party and celebrate the young girl's birth instead. They all agreed and went ahead with this plan.

They decided to go to Hanami together.

Blanket, check. Food, check. Drinks, check. Presents, check. Guests, check.

"Yuna-chan, are you ready?" Minato asked while double checking the baskets to see if anything had been missed out. Just then, Yuna came out of her room with Kushina grinning triumphantly by her side. Yuna wore a vanilla white dress, plain but fine. Her hair was styled differently – it was sided more towards the left than it would normally be, the front was divided into two braids and then with two more individual braids from the back, they combined together to create an intricate pattern, while a good portion of her back hair was let loose at waist-length.

"I would never let my little girl go out looking less than perfect on her birthday!" Kushina exclaimed proudly.

"You look so pretty, Yuna-chan," Rin adored, smiling gently.

"Uh-huh, you look like a little princess…. I mean, you look wonderful, l-like a princess…" Obito faded away faintly, after being reminded by Kakashi's scowl that Yuna, for some obscure reason, did not like to be compared fairy tale figures that every young girl dreamt to be.

"He meant you look too girly and very unlike the usual you today," Kakashi smirked using his infamous sarcasm to cover up for the Uchiha's poor word choices. Knowing Kakashi and Obito, Yuna did not get mad nor was she upset at all. She giggled.

* * *

Nearby a lake, surrounded by several sakura trees, they found a place to sit down to have their picnic. The boys helped to set up the blanket and games for later to play, and Rin and Kushina preparing the serving of beverages. Meanwhile, Minato took Yuna to the concur point between water and dry land, as he thought Yuna would be interested. He was right. Yuna focused her eyes into the vastness of the lake. She carefully dipped her right hand into the clear liquid, and lifted it up smoothly and observed the ripples created by the drops of water falling off her hand and the waves that disturbed the surface's stillness.

"I don't know why, water always makes me feel so calm and safe." Yuna unexpectedly started a conversation. She flashed a smile at Minato. Minato smiled back as if to show his understanding of the young girl's profound sentiment. Minato paused in thoughts then responded.

"It reflects everything clearly and exactly as they are, so then maybe you don't feel cheated when you look into it?" He proposed a probable explanation.

"But then, that depends on the clarity of water, doesn't it?"

"Indeed, it would."

* * *

After eating the extravagant Hanami bento, they all played jenga together, fair and square, a good, old, chakra-free game. Everyone was competitve to earn the victory. Minato won, as expected. Then, it was present time. Minato gave Yuna books, as he knew her passion for reading. Kushina made Yuna a bed doll, based on Yuna's appearance. Kakashi brought a box of art tools and a good sketch book; he knew Yuna was a bit of an artist. Rin made Yuna a bracelet using crystal beads. Obito presented his gift last.

"Wow, you bake? I totally didn't see that coming." Kakashi sounded half-impressed, half-shocked and stated as a matter of fact. His cake looked good. It even looked like it would taste good.

"Yes, I do. You have something to say?"

"Well, I'd think it's quite a feminine hobby. That's all."

"To be honest, I like to cook, myself. I don't see anything wrong in baking," Minato cut in, with a tone implicative of stopping the quarrel, and if it had to be continued, do it another day. Thereafter followed the awkward silence…

They all burst out of laughter a moment later.

_Maybe, life is not so bad after all._


	5. To become stronger

A/N: Please tell me if there's a spelling error or there's anything that does not make any grammatical sense.

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**Chapter 5 – To Become Stronger**

_Human beings are so fragile._

War was spreading wider across the landscape, and the council of Konohagakure was on the verge of crumbling. One day, Minato had brought home the somber news, which to an extent made his personal success seem insignificant.

Uchiha Obito died valiantly to protect his village and his teammates on battlefield.

Uchiha Obito? Yuna thought of the times when the impulsive boy had defended her from Kakashi's scornful remarks. He was from one of the four noble clans of Konoha, the Uchiha. He had short, spiky, black hair; he wore a long sleeved blue uniform with metal plating on the part that reached the back of his hands, as well as a blue jacket with an orange collar and trimmings. He had his jacket fastened to the rest of the outfit by two buttons on the collar, and bore the Uchiha clan crest on the back. Often, he wore his standard Konoha forehead protector with a pair of goggles with orange lenses, connected to ear protectors. Within a month, the bright boy with an extremely strong will was no longer with them.

She stole a glimpse in Minato's direction, shook her head, and walked away. She could not bear the sight of how misery was conquering the heart of such an optimistic man.

Walking through lushes of wood aimlessly, Yuna arrived at the Memorial Stone. She saw a young man standing before the enormous rock. Taking a step forward, she noted that boy was a silver-haired teen, one whom she knew. It was Kakashi, but then, it wasn't Kakashi. The teen in front of her was revealing emotions that he would normally have hidden. He bit his lip in frustration, tears flooding over his cheeks.

"He's dead. There's no use in crying, it won't change anything," Yuna uttered dismissively from behind. Kakashi felt as though he was struck by lightning, trembling in poignancy.

He turned and fiercely howled back, "Shut _up_! It's none of your business."

Yuna ignored his angry outburst. She continued her way to the memorial stone. Her left hand stroked the names of those who died serving Konoha, and she said, "To me, death is one of the most familiar concepts in life. Maybe one day, my name will also be engraved onto this stone."

After a moment of silence, Kakashi composed himself and brought himself, bewildered, to ask the girl something he'd wondered for quite some time.

"Yuna... what exactly are you?"

She answered, "A person without a past. A person without a future. A soulless living being."

And there, Kakashi turned his head to see the feeblest smile he had ever seen in his life.

* * *

"I want to learn ninjutsu."

Yuna consulted her guardian as soon as she reached home. Minato gawked at the precocious child before him, and sighed worryingly. "But you're only five…"

"Age has nothing to do with it," Yuna cut in before he could expand his argument. "You're always busy and out on a mission. I'd like you help me to find a sensei."

Minato gave in eventually, knowing that he could never change this stubborn girl's mind, so he took Yuna to the Third.

"Why do you want to learn ninjutsu?" The old man had his eyes shut while smoking his pipe.

"To become stronger."

The Third was stunned by the firm answer. He shot his eyes open to find the young girl was staring right into his, asking sincerely for his help.

"Very well then, I've already summoned that person. He should be here in a few." Just as he finished the sentence, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in."

A tall man entered the room. He had exceptionally pale skin with straight waist-length black hair. His deep amber orbs had slits in the pupils and purple markings around his eyes. The slender man's gaze was sharp and cold. Yuna was taken aback slightly by the man's sheer presence. His eyes were strange and unsettling to look at. Yuna felt uncomfortable upon the man's fixed vision on her... it was like her whole body was strapped around by slimes.

"This child is Minato's adopted daughter. Both Jiraiya and Tsunade have been busy recently, so I'd think you'd be the next best option to mentor this little girl. I now assign you to this task, Orochimaru." The Third pointed to Yuna, who was standing beside Minato, looking a bit frightened.

"I refuse," the man replied blankly. "I have no interest in looking after a child." With that said, Yuna decided to make her stand. As she knew, right in front of her, she had one of the most powerful shinobi Konoha ever produced, who could be her sensei; she was not going to pass on this opportunity.

Without further persuasions from the Third, Yuna spoke for her own sake. "I want to be stronger. That's why I am here. I will work very hard and I promise I won't disappoint you, Orochimaru-san."

After hearing these words from the mouth of the child, Orochimaru took a second thought. The gloomy lull created more tension in the atmosphere. He laid his squinting eyes on the blue-haired girl again. He saw something different this time round. She was not just a child who only knew how to seek safety behind the back of her newly-found father. He saw absolute determination in the girl's window, but he also saw the helpless child who cried herself to sleep at night. He saw his younger self in her.

"Fine. I will take you as my student."

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**Re Gaaralover2247: I'm so moved. I thank you personally for your comments and support. It gives me motivation to write.**


	6. Training! More like committing suicide!

A/N: Review, anyone?

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**Chapter 6 – Training?! More Like Committing Suicide!**

Contrary to popular beliefs, Orochimaru was a diligent teacher; at least in educating his students he was. Just as he had strived for perfection, he expected no less from those who learned from him. Undeniably, his training was also most definitely out of the norm, and lethal. Yuna was one of the very few who had the prospects to experience such phenomenon.

Yuna had an insightful understanding of what was installed for her training under the most praised one out of the three sanin. If one did not have the tenacious vitality like a cat or the will as strong as iron, sooner or later, one would falter and be laying on one's deathbed.

Yuna's training went as follows: for the first month, Yuna ran around Konoha at least three times for warm-up. After that, her teacher taught her some basic skills in hand-to-hand combat and then she would have to apply what she had just learned to defend herself. The attacker was the other lucky contender to have ever taught by Orochimaru, personally and officially. Her name was Anko. She was a witty girl with short, spiky, hair and a fanned ponytail. Just like her hair, she was a charismatic person to be around with. Nonetheless, she never went easy on Yuna, despite apologising repeatedly after practice. Anko looked up to her sensei a lot and so she always tried her best to impress him – that entailed of not playing Miss nice with Yuna. Anko knew perfectly well that her sensei would undoubtedly see that as a weakness of hers if she did go easy on Yuna. Although it had to be said, because of that, the taijutsu that Yuna was capable of could no longer be classified as basic by the end of the first month.

During the second month, Yuna started to learn how to wield common weaponry such as kunai and shuriken, as well as the utilisation of explosive tags and poison on her weapons, while spending the rest of her time studying the art of traps. From the third month on, she was learning how to use her chakra in different fields. She climbed tree after tree, walked and ran miles on the surface of hot springs (provided that she didn't lose concentration and end up bathing), and practised some elementary-level ninjutsu like the cloning technique, the body replacement technique, and transformation technique to begin with. After that, Orochimaru decided that Yuna should move onto more advanced ninjutsu using her own nature affinity. Regardless the lack of chakra due her young age, she managed a variety of intermediate-level water releases like the water clones and water dragon bullet technique by the end of the fifth month's training. However, things stepped up even further in sixth month. Her sensei thought it was time for Yuna to gain some real survival skills and he felt certainly that this was the best way to do it. Yuna was thrown into a pit of writhing, deadly snakes.

"Just make sure you are still alive and have not become their snack when I come back." The serpent-like man grinned sinisterly and returned to his lab to continue his research. Anko was sweating and watching from a distance, stand-by, in case of an emergency. Meanwhile, Yuna fought for her life.

Half a year of brutal training had drastic physical effects on the little girl. Yuna became notably thinner and swelling was forming around her eyes. She looked like a flower that was withering, waiting for her final evaluation.

"Some raw talents I see. Alas, quite dumb."

Okay, Yuna had to admit, if she could, she would love to beat this man up for good. These six months, facing such inhumane training, Yuna merely clenched her teeth and pull herself up again for another round. Not once had she complained, not once had she shed a tear. Because she knew, in order to pursue power, one must pay the price. Yuna grew up in Orochimaru's Spartan-style education, both mentally and physically.

At evening, Yuna returned home with all sort bruises and wounds. The couple got on with their usual routine. Minato got the medicine box out and started to measure the budget required and Kushina went to prepare water and disinfectants to be used to clean the wounds. For the time being, Yuna was sticking the tip her tongue out and smiling perkily when she was told to sit on the sofa.

Even with the slightest contact with the surface of the wound, the young girl grimaced in pain. Minato's heart tightened instantly and Kushina struggled to maintain calmness for cleaning the wounds as delicately as possible.

"Is it really necessary to go through all that hardship at the age of six?" Minato asked, in the hope that their baby girl would reconsider her actions.

"No pain, no gain. Boss, I'm sure you understand the logic behind this," Yuna replied mildly.

The Yellow Flash was left speechless.

"Yuna-chan, your father is only concerned for your health. We'd say it is clear that Orochimaru-senpai's training is too much for you," Kushina added with a faint smile.

"I know what I'm doing," Yuna protested persistently with a pout.

"Let's say I'll have Kakashi come and give you some pointers on how to create your own jutsu. How about that?" Minato suggested.

"No, thank you. His chidori is beautiful but I don't see what I can take from there. I mean, it is a highly destructive jutsu and it is very flashy. A flashy jutsu is very useful for the ANBU work he does, right?" Yuna said in a mocking tone.

Minato chuckled at the sarcasm. "That's Kakashi's proud achievement. He'd be so hurt if he heard about this."

"Can you teach me your rasengen?"

"I'm glad you're interested. And yes, I will teach you. That is, when you get in better shape."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

The Third paid a visit to Orochimaru to check on the progress of the little girl who asked for his help three seasons ago.

"How's the little one doing?" the old man puffed out smoke and spoke.

Looking out the window, Orochimaru quickly eyed the girl in question fighting against a giant snake.

"Not bad. She's too young; her chakra is not stable enough yet to perform any jutsu beyond B-rank. For now, I can't teach her anything else."

"That's very impressive. That'd mean she's already at the level of an accomplished genin, if not a chunin." The Third was surprised by the immense improvements in such a short period of time.

"To be honest, I can't easily think of another child of her age with her skills. Why is she so eager to learn ninjutsu? That's too much for a child," wondered the old-timer, deep in thought.

"No…" the other man disagreed. "This child is different. Not only that she has raw talents, she has extreme endurance and extraordinary willpower. She can endure suffering that even most adults cannot. When I intensified the training, it was purposely done for her to back down. She didn't, and instead, she overcame the challenges with outstanding results."

"Well, to have your compliment, that implies the child is already a gem," remarked the old man. He smiled and returned with no worries.


	7. Sannin

A/N: No reviews! I really want some feedback on my writing. :(

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**Chapter 7 – Sanin**

At last, the Third Shinobi World War had finally drawn its curtains. There had been many more passing away since Yuna first settled in the Konahagakure, some of which including her closest friend, Rin, who was almost like an older sister to her. She was a kind-hearted kunoichi specialised in medical ninjutsu; whenever the younger girl was badly hurt after training, which was very often, Rin would apply her expertise on the younger girl with great aptitude. She also taught Yuna basic first aid, which she thought was an essential skill to have, especially when Yuna was a student of Orochimaru.

Despite knowing the cause of Rin's death, Yuna did not blame Kakashi. She probably would have done the same if she was in the same situation, she thought bitterly. But then again, she was glad that at least Kakashi made it back safely.

That was also around the time when Yuna met the rest of sannin, her sensei's primary teammates and friends, Jiraiya and Tsunade. They had very diverse personalities. Sometimes she wondered how the three of them stayed friends, since they all had very different_ interests_.

Yuna was very excited to meet Jiraiya. She was interested to see how this guy could be the teacher of her father, one of the greatest shinobi of his times; at the same time, he was teasingly diagnosed by her sensei to have hypoplasia. She first had a very good impression of Jiraiya. She thought he was a cheerful and generous man - she liked people with positive attitudes.

"Sensei, Jiraiya-jisan seems pretty healthy to me. I wouldn't think he's that stupid," Yuna confirmed with the man who was occupied in his experiment.

"Once you get to know him better, you'll see just how little brain cells he has left." Orochimaru continued to fiddle with the test tubes and samples in his hand.

Proven by facts, Orochimaru was right. Yuna had witnessed numerous times that man spying on girls. He was very skilled at doing so, she had to admit. He had even gone as far as to create the transparent escape technique to allow him to spy on naked women without being caught. With that said, quite a few times, he had either unintentionally or deliberately ran into his long-time crush while he was conducting his so-called research in the female division of onsen – let's just say that the slug-princess gave him broken ribs and he was forced to stay in hospital for at least a week each time.

Tragic. Maybe Jiraiya was mentally handicapped after all, as his other teammates had taken the liberty to describe. And so, Yuna concluded that Konoha was a place which produced only two types of people: die-hard and disabled.

Like a clock, life went on. Every day, Yuna went to Orochimaru for training, sometimes together with Anko, if she wasn't out on a mission. There were also some other times when Jiraiya would come along to observe, well, more like to pester them. After training, if Orochimaru was in a good mood (which highly depended on his progress with his research), he would offer the little girl tea and snack before they called it a day. The master and apprentice were both people of little few words. They sat on a stone bench in courtyard, with cups of green tea in their hands, watching the sun setting down the skyline.

"What kind of atmosphere is this? Pretending you're in your deep thoughts, huh? Gezz, just chill and enjoy the beautiful scenery!" The intruder broke the golden silence. The skinnier man of the two could not bear the lousiness and so he kicked the origin of noise out of his territory. In fact, that was some good entertainment for Yuna; she thoroughly enjoyed the show and the realistic stage fight.

As time went by, Orochimaru became busier with either his missions or his experiment. He stopped the regular training with Yuna. As an alternative way to spend her time, she started to hang out with Tsunade. As for Tsunade, she loved to be around this little girl. While Shizune kept trying to get her sensei off her drinking excessively and gambling non-stop, Yuna just went along with whatever she was told to do. Walking through streets of Konoha, they often found themselves ending up in these two places.

The casino or izakaya.

When Tsunade won rarely, due to her ever no-luck, Yuna would step in to win back all the loss, if not extras. Afterwards, Tsunade and Yuna would then go to izakaya for celebration, regardless of Shizune's protests. Over time, Yuna picked up two major bad habits: drinking and gambling. She did not drink much, but that certainly was not the point – she was a child for heaven's sake; she did not like gambling, but Yuna figured that it was a profitable way to invest on her pocket money – since she could only gain more and there would be no loss thanks to her extreme winning streak.

By the time Minato learned about this, it was all too late. 'He was paranoid' was definitely an understatement by this point. Yet, the young girl saw no harm in the whole ordeal and explained herself.

"You see, the legendary sannin are basically 'a perv, a gambler/heavy drinker, and a creep'. I'm just a mini version of the three combined. Oh, don't worry, I don't follow gama-jisan to bathhouse peeping on naked women… He recently wrote a book called _Icha Icha Paradise_. I read it but I don't understand most of it…"

Minato was dumbfounded and Kushina covered her mouth in shock.

What happened? Whose fault was that?

The next day, Minato found Yuna practising her aiming in the backyard. Shuriken and kunai were mostly all in the centre of the frame. He was impressed by the little toxophilite-in-making.

"Yuna-chan, come and take a break." Minato called out with his hand holding a packet of double-popsicles. She stopped and ran towards her prize. Minato split it into two half and gave Yuna one. They chatted.

"So, what have you been learning from senpai lately?" Minato asked.

"This…" the girl held her half of the lolly in her mouth and then started to make a series of seals. After that, two snakes drilled out of her sleeve. Minato stood back reflexively and made a release hand sign.

"So, you learned to manipulate water and shape it accordingly to your will. But there, you also added a genjutsu to make them look like they were real snakes." The man analysed comprehensively with the slightest details. "That's very clever, an advanced use of two relatively simple techniques by combining them. Well done," Minato said with a satisfactory look on his face.

"Thank you. I've discovered it is very good in scaring people off," Yuna added, amazed at his insightful inspection. The name Yellow Flash was not given to him for nothing.

"Why would you do that?"

"Well, there were three boys bullying a girl when I was on my way home. I felt sorry for the girl so then I used it to scare the boys off. It paid off. They looked like they were about to pee themselves and ran away as fast as they could." Yuna was laughing when she explained the incident. It was clear that she was proud of her handywork. Just then, Minato was reminded of the similarities between the young Kushina and Yuna. Although Kushina hated to be looked down by others when she first came to Konoha, she did, however, enjoyed the process of proving them wrong.

What could he say? Like mother, like daughter.

"Now that I think back, I don't think Orochimaru-senpai is a suitable mentor for you. He's a bit too blindly obsessed with power." Minato stroked Yuna's head lovingly.

Yuna frowned in disapproval. "What about your teacher, then? Gama-jisan spends half of his time checking out attractive women, and the other half-writing erotic books. And that's okay? You should thank the lord that you didn't turn out like him." She defended her sensei's honour.

He only laughed dryly at the harsh words, partly because what she said was not entirely untrue. Okay, maybe she did exaggerate... a bit.

"Jiraiya-sensei is actually a superb shinobi. No matter what difficulties he faces, he never gives up on his dreams. That's precisely why I have a lot of admiration for him."

"Never gives up, huh? What's your dream then?"

"To become Hokage, to protect the people and the land I love." Minato gave a splendid smile.

"Boss, you must know that Orochimaru-sensei also has the strength to become Hokage?" Yuna glanced at the man and waited for an answer.

He nodded. "Yes, I know. Even if it's tough competition, I will never give up. That's my nindo."

"Both sensei and I lost our parents the same way. Other people aren't able to understand the pain and suffering we went through. He wants to become stronger so he can live a better life. Everyone's a bit like that deep down, so I don't see anything wrong for people to have a desire to obtain power for their own sake. Then again, you want power for a completely different purpose. You want to become stronger to be able to protect the ones you love. Therefore, I think you'd make a better Hokage than sensei would ever be," Yuna commented, frankly and openly on such a mature topic.

"Well then, what's your dream?"

"Me? I don't know. Everything seems too surreal to me. I don't want to one day wake up to a nightmare…"

"Yuna," Minato cut in solemnly, wearing a grave expression on his face. "Promise me you'll live a good life. Promise me to look forward to the future, no matter what happens. I know you've lost a lot, but there's no reason why you should live in misery for the rest of your life. If you try harder, you will eventually find the good things in life." Minato heaved and took his daughter into his embrace affectionately.

"And remember, you are not the only one left in the world. You still have me and mama!"

"Thank you, papa."

That was the first time when Yuna called Minato her father.

_I still have a family._


	8. Wedding & Succession

A/N: I'm getting fed up asking people to review after reading -.-

* * *

**Chapter 8 – The Wedding and Succession**

Red, yellow, orange, and brown blankets of leaves carpeted the ground. A gentle breeze flowed and circulated the air with delight. Wildlife, happily in their own peace of mind and comfort, were in blissful ignorance of the preparations which had been making to astonish even them. It was said to be one of the most pleasant days they had seen that season. It was a fine day, but it was only going to get better. Because, on that day, there was the biggest celebration Konohagakure held in years.

The day finally came to rescue people from the post-war gloom. It was the day when people of the Land of Fire left their mournful feelings behind and embraced a new era with abundance of hopes and ambitions. The last-standing Hokage candidate, the great Yellow Flash, succeeded the Third as the Fourth on his wedding. It was a day of double celebration.

The leaves rustled against the dead grass as a blue-haired maiden dressed in a colourfully patterned kimono walked along the path. A young man was disturbed in his prayers by the crunching noises.

"C'mon Kakashi, we'll be late. No, actually, you'll be late since I don't want to miss a thing. If you aren't moving on the count of three, I'll go ahead first."

"Tsk tsk, patience is a virtue. Haven't you heard? I want to tell them about today. Gimme two more minutes."

"Three."

"So yeah, sensei will officially be Hokage today…."

"Two."

"Oh, he's also getting married today. I'm so happy for them."

"One."

"Okay, I better get goin' since your _darling Yuna-chan_ is getting really pissed at me!"

"Bye."

"Wait!" Without further delay, he sprinted to catch up with the girl. The silver-haired one wore a tsumugi kimono with black haori. The girl flinched.

She was confused. "Why aren't you in your ANBU uniform? I thought all shinobi are to wear their shinobi clothing."

"Yes, we are, excluding the heads of the noble clans, of course. But since I'm sitting in the front row with Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sama, and you, that kinda make me an honoured guest. I was told to dress formal for the occasion," he explained.

"You look weird in hakama," Yuna casually commented.

"And I was about to be nice and say 'Hey, you look good in red. That furisode really suits you.' I guess I can save it now," Kakashi retorted with an amused expression.

"I'll take it anyway. Thank you very much. I said you look weird, because right now, you look very un-Kakashi-like," Yuna countered with wits - which was, in fact, a valuable skill she picked up from the person she was using it on.

"Just what do you mean?" Kakashi was slightly - just slightly - irritated.

"Race you there." She stuck her tongue out and ran off again. Kakashi only chortled to himself at this unusual childishness.

C_hildren these days…. Well, at least she's having fun._

* * *

By the time the duo made it to Konoha's shrine, a lot of people had already arrived and taken their seats. There were lots of people from different sections – members of the council, shinobi and common villagers. Everyone was chit-chatting with great anticipations. Kakashi led the way and Yuna followed closely behind. Yuna took her seat and Kakashi begun his ushering.

"Hello there, you must be their daughter. What's your name, dear?" greeted a lady in her late twenties graciously. She was a fair-skinned lady with bangs hanging on either side of her face to roughly frame her cheeks and black eyes. She wore an exquisite piece of houmongi, and a puce plum flower pattern decorated the maize silk. Her hair was neatly knotted into a bun, held by a hair stick made of fine marble. It was evident that the woman was very wealthy and had a high social status.

"My name's Yuna. Nice to meet you." She stood up and bowed at the woman.

The woman smiled back tenderly. "Nice to meet you too. I'm Mikoto, a good friend of your mother. What a lovely name you have there! You surely look as beautiful as the elegance your name suggests."

"Th-thank you v-very much," Yuna stuttered. She was flattered to be praised by such a beautiful and stunning woman like Mikoto herself. She could see why her mum got along so well with her.

"Dad, where's mum?"

"She's not sitting with us. She's a maid of honour to the Fourth's bride," Fugaku looked back to his son and replied.

"Can I go and have a look?"

The boy's father agreed. "30 seconds only."

The boy nodded and went for it. Through the gap he rapidly found, within the masses of people, his mother. Just as his father said, she was sitting in the front row as an honoured guest. She was talking to a girl of his age. The girl smiled softly and chatted cheerfully with his mother. She wore a graceful kimono of warm colours. Her face was oblong shape and was accentuated with a hairband. Her long straight hair caught in the light, and the deep colour of royal blue stood out from the crowd; her eyes were glistening like emeralds. He was mesmerised. Just then, his mother saw him looking in her direction. She stopped her conversation, waved, and the boy waved back. The boy took one last peep before quickly returning to his seat.

When the girl turned to see the direction Mikoto was waving at, there was nobody there.

"The ceremony will soon begin. Please return to your seats."

Silence fell upon the whole venue. The procession was grand. The wedding party made their entrance majestically to the fluty sound of yokobue and the drumming of taiko. The long awaited ceremony began when all people showed their respects by bowing towards the altar, where the couple and the Third stood. The Third gave a gesture and everyone took their seats.

"My beloved people, we are gathered here today for this special occasion. Before the history of Konoha, today we celebrate the joining of a man and a woman. Today, we celebrate the birth of a new age. Today, we celebrate the peaceful days that are yet to come."

The resolute declarations from the Third provoked a wave of applauses and rejoicing cheers. He gestured for silence and he continued.

"Our village is the most financially stable of the five notable villages, but that is not what makes us rich. Our village has many powerful shinobi, but that is not what makes us strong. Love and compassion: They make us rich. They make us strong. They make us last. I, Sarutobi Hiruzen, sandaime Hokage and the nakoto for today, will now precede the ceremony without further ado.

"I require and charge you both, as ye will answer at the dreadful day of judgment when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, that if either of you know any impediment, why ye may not be lawfully joined together in Matrimony, ye do now confess it. For be ye well assured, that if any persons are joined together other than as will of fire's doth allow, their marriage is not lawful." At that moment in time, a tall man with long straight hair entered composedly as if nothing was wrong and took his reserved seat in the front row. His lateness and odd entrance stirred attention from the crowd. Many were whispering and gossiping amongst themselves. The Third coughed in disapproval and carried on. He faced the blond man who was dressed in his most dignified black silk kimono. Silence returned.

"Namikaze Minato, wilt thou have this woman to be thy wedded wife, to live together protecting Konohagakure as the Yodaime Hokage? Wilt thou luve her, comfort her, honour, and keep her in sickness and in health just as thou shalt do no different for thy village, so long as ye both shall live?"

"Yes, I will. I vow to thee."

The Third then turned to the fiery-haired woman who was dressed in pure white kimono. To Minato, she was simply too perfect.

"Uzumaki Kushina, wilt thou have this man to be thy wedded husband, to live together protecting Konohagakure beside yur Yodaime Hokage? Wilt thou luve him, comfort him, honour, and stay loyal to him just as thou shalt do no different for thy village, as long as ye both shall live?"

"Yes, I will. I give thee my troth."

"Who giveth this woman to be married to this man?"

As Kushina's parents were both diseased, Tsunade was the next best option as she, herself, was a decedent of the Uzumaki clan, and her being Kushina sensei. Tsunade stepped forward and handed Kushina's hand over. The couple held hands together and looked deep into each other.

"I wed thee husband and wife. In the name of Hokage, I name thee Yondaime Hokage and first lady."

The ceremony ended with the Third taking off his Hokage hat, Kushina received the hat, while bowing. She put it on her newly-wed husband. They both held hands high, signifying the victory and the love Konohagakure and the two shall forevermore be blessed with.

* * *

Much less people attended the reception. Only close friends, head family of each clan and some council members were invited. Orochimaru left as soon as the formal wedding/kage-ship succession ceremony finished, although he was invited. He was not interested. He did not go any later events, for that he would rather spend his time on his research. For the people who stayed, they gave thoughtful and expensive presents to congratulate the newly weds.

Many gave shuugi bukuro while others did extras. The Yamanaka clan offered their flowers throughout the celebration; the Sarutobi clan organised the party; the Inuzuka clan made the big wedding cake; the Akimichi clan offered catering; the Senju clan offered wine and drinks for everyone…

In the most subtle way, they were competing with each other, even in the Hokage's wedding. As expected of the two richest clans in the land of fire, both Uchiha clan and Hyuga clan were joined in first place. The Uchihas gave an extra-large sum of money and paid some of the expenses for the celebration; the Hyugas offered a good portion of their secret ointment and also paid some of the expenses as well.

Minato and Kushina were very thankful to everyone. They had a massive wedding celebration. Yet it did not cost them a penny; they only had more money in the process. They did not even have to pay their ceremonial clothing, including Kushina's five sets of wonderful kimono were fully provided for them by the Nara clan.

As for Jiraiya, he saw things in a more 'practical' way. He saw no point in giving money to the couple. He saw no point in buying them drinks. Instead, he gave a copy of his latest book, _Icha Icha Ecstasy_, to his student. He called it… wedding night preparation. Minato accepted it with gratitude and embarrassment. Tsunade cringed at that thought. She was impressed how at Minato turned out very unlike his sensei after years of influence.

It was time to toast. Shikaku took his time before he felt he had lingered long enough to get on with his part without any more delay. Giving a few rings on his glass with a spoon reluctantly, he got everyone's attention. The guests quickly quietened down from their conversations when he finally got up and addressed all guests.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to once again welcome you to the fabulous occasion that is, Minato and Kushina's wedding and after party of the kage-ship succession. I'm sure you will all be pleased to know that this speech is going to be short because it'd be too bothersome to have it long.

"Firstly, I hope everyone's enjoyed it so far, since it might go downhill very soon.

"When Minato asked me to be his best man today, part of me was honoured, part of me was terrified, but mostly I was laughing inwardly that he's finally admitting what we've known all along, that I am, in fact, better than THE Yellow Flash.

"Having never been the best man for a kage before, I sat down and thought about my duties. So apparently, I had to get him to places on time and look presentable to the rest of Konoha. Mind you, it was a difficult job! You might have thought you saw that ever-so-calm saviour on the altar this afternoon. But no, you should've seen the same man fidgeting like a scared lamb this morning! (Sorry, mate.)

"Anyway, where was I?

"Now what can I say about our Minato… he's just about the nicest bloke you'll ever meet. He's handsome, strong, kind, multi-talented, loyal, reliable, honest…. Just about all the qualities a woman would ever want in a man, really. (He's also the Hokage.) Kushina, however, is a totally different character. Despite her beauty, she is a mad woman with wild ideas. Well, that's my first impression of her, at least. Sorry, that's not true, she's a nun compared to Yoshino…. But then, guess what? When you put those two together, they make a perfect match.

"Before the toast, I'd like to leave you with one vital marriage advice, from my own personal experience. Someone once said to me that marriage is a 50/50 partnership, but anyone who believes that clearly knows nothing about women, marriage or fractions... To help the course of true love run smoothly, never forget the following phrase you must repeat everyday... 'You're right, honey.'

"So to wrap this up, I'd just like to say that marriage is not about finding someone you can live with, it's about finding someone you can't live without. Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me immense pleasure to invite you all to be upstanding and raise your glasses in the final toast... To Yondaime and his first lady, we wish you the best in the future and may you both enjoy a long and happy life together. I give you the new Mr. and Mrs. Namikaze."

* * *

As the night got later, people returned home gradually. Tsunade volunteered to look after Yuna so the newly wedded couple could have some time to themselves. They changed venue when most of the guests left. Jiraiya, Shizune and Kakashi joined the two in izakaya. They spent the rest of the night and early morning drinking and gaming. Kakashi was relatively new to alcohol; he was pretty light-weighted compared to Yuna, but he went for it. Shizune was worse; she tried to a tiny sip each time, so she could avoid her cup being filled with more alcohol. Her efforts were in vain, she was tipsy after two cups of sake.

One hour later, Shizune and Kakashi sat down. They felt asleep against corner of the table, cuddled into each other for warmth, like new born babies. The other three remained strong.

Two hours later…

_I'm so happy for papa and mama. That sounds good to me. Papa. Mama._

_Another thought, maybe I should stop now, before I kill myself with alcohol. I'll never beat these two in a drinking contest._


	9. Kage-ship

**Chapter 9 – Kage-ship**

Ever since Minato started working as the Hokage, he found himself a daily routine to follow. Being a kage was very different from being an ANBU captain, despite the leadership qualities requirement in both jobs. He now protected the village with a very different approach. As the head of Konohagakure, he was to lead all shinobi and make decisions for the village. Every single move he made affected everyone, so he could not afford any mistakes.

As he was still adjusting to his new role, if he was to make an enormous decision, he would normally pay a visit to his accomplished predecessor to consult his judgement with humility. For his job, day in and day out he spent most of his time approving THAT massive pile of documents, which never failed to reappear on his desk the next morning; and the rest of his time dreading through meetings after meetings with the council's members, discussing their next step as a village. In all honesty, Minato was grateful to be entrusted to play such a vital role. He loved his job with all his heart, but could not help to find it tedious at times. Nonetheless, he never once showed any unprofessionalism. He always maintained level-headed attitude and got on with his work devotedly.

Another prominent part of being a kage was to protect the village twenty-four-seven, and so he achieved that by not going out of the village nearly as often as he used to. Conveniently, it created plenty more time for him to be around his family. This particular side effect made up for all the endless paper work and all those meaningless meetings with ever repetitive contents.

Regularly, he now had time to have breakfast and dinner with his family.

With Jiraiya gone, Tsunade once again leaving the village to continue her journey of gambling, on top of Orochimaru's absence to tutor the little girl, there were the increasing concerns of Yuna being left alone these days. It had been three months since Orochimaru had given his younger student a lesson. The last time he met up with Yuna for her training, it must have been before her parents' wedding, as he recalled. As soon as Minato was in office, Orochimaru became more cautious than ever around the little girl. Yuna was an intelligent child. After all, she was the daughter of the new Hokage. Every time he returned from a mission, he threw her excuses and buried himself into his research. Often Yuna would have to continue her training and studying without her sensei's guidance, even when he was off-duty in the village. Although Yuna was fine with it, there was still this lingering suspicion that Orochimaru was neglecting her on purpose.

As Yuna's sensei was too busy to train her anymore, Kushina chose to take a lot fewer missions, deciding to make time for her daughter and do her part as a mother. In a way, Kushina understood exactly how Yuna must have felt, as she too shared a similar childhood. Kushina knew first-hand how to get through it and hoped she would do the same. She wanted Yuna to leave her past behind and grow up with new memories of a happy childhood. As Kushina's own life turned out like a fairy tale, she wished her baby girl would find her own "happily ever after." She would do anything to make sure of it.

When Kushina had her day off, she would spend her whole day with Yuna. After breakfast, they spent the morning doing arithmetic and language. If they had more time, which was often the case, they would spend it on history and science. Kushina hated studying when she was a child and she was not fond of it as an adult either. But Kushina was very patient with her; and, much to her surprise, she found it easy to teach her daughter. Yuna was a bright girl and she was keen to learn more.

After that, they made lunch together. If Minato happened to have no appointment and could to take a decent lunch break that day, they went to him and enjoyed lunch together as a family. They would eat at the rooftop if it was good weather and they would stay indoors if it was bad. In the afternoon, Kushina would help Yuna with her training.

Kushina was stunned by what her daughter was capable of at her tender age. "Wow, 'ye know, that's some solid elemental manipulation technique you have there. Most people who already have control over their chakra would normally have to train… let's say, three years to be as good as you are now. I'm very proud of you."

"Mama, what else can I learn now?"

"Hm… it seems to me you already know a bit of everything, but it's still not stable enough yet…. Are you interested in fuuinjutsu?"

She mumbled to herself quietly at first, then asked, "I know what it is, but isn't it very difficult? Sensei said that's too advanced for me."

"Well, ye know what? From what I can see, I think you can handle it just fine. Besides, there's a specialist right in front of you, so you'll learn it in no time. I'm sure," Kushina winked with a persuasive grin.

* * *

Eventually, Kushina found herself taking on an S-rank mission, and she went out early that morning. By the time Yuna woke up, she found herself alone at home. Rubbing her blurry and watery eyes, Yuna yawned her way to the kitchen. She found a note on the table.

"_Dear Yuna,_

_I am afraid I'll have to leave you alone for a few days. The situation has become urgent and calls for my expertise, so I am going out on this mission. Minato has a long day ahead so he's left early for work as well. _

_Eat. There's food in the fridge, so help yourself with food. Please be careful and don't burn yourself._

_I am sorry that I can't accompany with you. I hope you'll have fun sketching anyway._

_Loves,_

_Mama_

_P.S. Remember to wrap up warm before you go out. It's getting chilly."_

Yuna made herself a cup of hot chocolate and two pieces of raspberry jam on toast for breakfast. She got changed after she finished her meal. She remembered what the letter said and put on more clothes, as mama had reminded her to do so. Yuna wore a long-sleeved sweater dress with red and black, striped cotton tights. She opened the window and put her hand out for a few seconds. It was an abnoramally cold day in Konoha - a harsh winter was coming. She shut the window promptly and wrapped herself up more with a hand-netted scarf and a winter hat; tugging her plaited blue hair in the grey coat she had overtopped. She put on a pair of calf-length dark brown boots while she was looking at herself in the mirror by the doorway. Satisfied with her job of bundling up, she decided she was good to go. With her art box in her left hand and a rucksack on her back, she headed out to the park for her sketching session.

Yuna sat down by a pond, where she saw a flock of swans swimming leisurely. The swans wore pure white coats. They were so innocent and carefree as they glided through water with ease. She admired them – the long-necked, well-bodily-portioned, peaceful birds. With her sketch book and pencils, she replicated the scene she captured before her eyes onto a piece of paper. They looked so graceful. She especially loved the way they interacted with each other. They made little noise but they migrated together effortlessly in a diagonal formation.

It was already noon when she was satisfied with her drawing. It would take some time for her to get home and make herself something to eat, and so she decided to buy lunch instead. She went to a bento house and brought two portions, one for her and one for papa. She then headed straight to the Hokage office. When Yuna arrived, Genma, who was one of the personal guards of the Fourth, had informed her that Hokage-sama was still currently in a meeting.

"Does papa have anything at lunch time?" If he did, she would habitually leave the bento on his desk.

"Well, no. There's an hour in between this meeting and his next appointment. It's just the meeting is running late at the moment." Genma did not want to disappoint the little girl, though now he only had 50 minutes left. Knowing the new Hokage, however, Genma could imagine that he'd _make time_ for his daughter.

"I'll wait."

As expected, Minato (somehow) made time for Yuna. He was too thrilled to see his little one after that seemingly perpetual meeting. He had a feeling Yuna would be coming at lunch time, and so he dynamically marked the location of his next appointment when he walked passed it in the morning.

"Thank you, Genma. You may take a break now. I'd think we'll be there for hours this afternoon. I let Raido off already."

"But, Hokage-sama, then…"

"I'll be fine, and I will make it there on time on my own. I suggest you to get there first after your break."

Genma bowed and dismissed himself. Who was he to worry about how the Fourth would manage his schedule? He knew it.

* * *

After lunch with her father, Yuna spent her afternoon in the library. It was a busy day for the library. Yuna could tell from a distance that on the grand floor, also known as the children's section, there were a lot of kids with their parents nearby. It was strange. The library was not known to be a popular place for children's gathering. When Yuna was entering the building, she instantly understood why. The Third was presenting a story-telling time. The Third noticed Yuna and smiled in her direction when she walked in; Yuna smiled back and gave a little wave in reply, then she went upstairs to continue with her studies.

Notes, an exercise book and a pencil case were stand-by to be used. Yuna scratched her head and rubbed her face. She was still intrigued by the swans she drew in the morning, even after talking all about it to her father at lunch time, and now she couldn't concentrate on her studies. For a while, she forced herself to at least get something done, but nothing worked. It was inefficient use of time. So, she gave up and ignored her arithmetic for the time being. For now, she wanted to learn more about the beautiful creatures she encountered that morning.

She went to the animal section and found several books she would like to read. Alas, she could not reach them with her height. She even tried tip-toeing on a chair! She was now attempting to use water-release to get the books, but she knew better than to try it out. Many things could have gone wrong if she did… Fortunately, help was on the way.

"Yuna, do you want to get those books?"

The girl turned to see the old man who was speaking a moment ago in the foyer. The elder pointed at five different books on the shelf and Yuna nodded excitedly. He made a gesture with his hand and a person emerged from the shadow to get all books for him.

"I thought you were story-telling for two more hours."

"That was two hours ago."

"Oh…"

The Third kindly walked Yuna home, knowing that she was alone since Kushina was out on a mission and Minato was obviously busy with his work. The cat-masked man carried Yuna's borrowed books in her bag and her art box. Yuna continued to express her new-found interest to her company with enthusiasm. They listened to her attentively. Holding his kiseru pipe with his right hand, the old man exhaled smoked and sighed heavily.

"How's your training with Orochimaru?"

"I haven't had a lesson with him for ages."

"I see."

The Third was a gentle man who always kept his emotions in check. But Yuna knew, if he ever put on a wizened face, he was surely about to explode. Yuna was somewhat puzzled; she wondered what exactly her sensei did to anger the veteran. He stared at the little girl anxiously. He took his time to come up with best phrasing of his questions.

"Do you think he he's been acting weird or anything strange?"

Yuna counted her fingers as she went along.

"Grumpy all day, more anti-social than usual, almost like he's trying to ignore me deliberately and carry on with his research if he's ever home these days…. Gramps, is he menopausing?"

The Third was amused at the girl's ravings. He wearily lifted his eye brow to her hypothesis; tension in the atmosphere was raised again.

"I think he's intending to defect Konoha."

Yuna's heart tightened. She never had the possibility of her sensei's betrayal crossed her mind.

"There's been rumour going around the village, saying the missing genin and chunin are the work of Orochimaru." The elder's eye brows were furiously brought together, deep wrinkles heavily carved a map in his forehead, and his eyes sulked in gloom. "Probably to exploit kinjutsu..."

As long as Yuna remembered, Orochimaru was of cruel nature. He would reach goal by the use of any means. He had this blatant disrespect for all life – he saw no value in living if there was no glory. In his lab, the dead bodies he used were of captives and of enemies: Yuna never thought her sensei would ever lay hands on his comrades for his own benefits.

"Hm…. There's no use in telling a child like you…. But keep an eye on him for me, would you? If he does anything abnormal, come to me or your father immediately."

There was a brief moment of silence.

"Gramps, will you take sensei's life if he betrays us?"

The Third's body abruptly froze at the child's words.

The Third thought most highly of Orochimaru out of his three students. He saw how focused and razor-sharp-minded an individual his favourite student was. He was a prodigy seen once in a generation. The Third even considered passing on his position as Hokage to him. But he never would have guessed the same genius would one day turn into a twisted man, who would pursue his own self-serving ambitions, putting all moralities asides.

Yuna saw hesitation in the elder's caring eyes.

_Gramps, you're too soft-hearted._


	10. Last lesson

**Chapter 10 – Last Lesson**

The Leaf could no longer satisfy the serpent master's ambitions and his constant craving for power. The Third failed to let him take his post as the next Hokage and thus he was seeing less and less Konoha had left to offer him. For the last few months especially, he was ready to leave Konoha at any given minute that he was practically holding no reservations of his ill-willed actions.

Finally, he had done it. Orochimaru left sanity behind and completed his last mission as a shinobi of Konohagakure with malevolence. He gave his younger student her last lesson while he was at it. He took the little girl to the battlefield with him.

After the Third Shinobi World War, conflicts did not stop between Konohagakure and Sunagakure. Both villages continued sending their troops to guard the borders and often there were collisions between the two forces. Orochimaru led a team of jounin to defend the Land of Fire from the Sand's intrusion. Due to Yuna's status as the Hokage's daughter and her lack of experience, she was told to get out of the way and observe it all from a harmless distance. Orochimaru had the vicious gut to bring the blunette along, but he figured it would be a bad idea if she died in a battle, which the Hokage could not recall sending his child to. Yuna watched from afar, above the shallow valley, where the blood spat took place.

That was the battlefield. Yuna witnessed how her teacher proficiently cut off enemies' throats; blood was gushing in mid-air, blooming into gory flowers; screams were begging for mercy, resounding in the vastness, then slowly fading into nothing. Within the fearful twilight, through the once-flourishing lands that had been bombed to barren, in the middle of brimful wrecked trees that were barely holding on to their trunks, there was a boy.

He was in the middle of the battlefield, where black smoke bound around all corpses and weapons were lying on the ground motionlessly. He stood still in shock. He lost himself in bloodshed. When heavy masses of cumulus clouds had the waxing crescent moon fully sheltered, his garnet eyes were the only things shinning in absolute darkness. Once the smoke started to clear, he took a big breath. _Clink._ Suddenly, there was a ringing of metal clashing. He panicked. Simultaneously, his adrenaline kicked in and his instinct took over his actions.

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!"

A volley of small fireballs escaped from the boy's mouth. Fleetingly, the darkness was lightened up by his fire release. Beneath his glowing eyes, there were traces of dried moisture around his tear-troughs. He swiftly picked up a kunai nearby and examined his surroundings alertly for a split-second. When the flames were extinguishing, his raven bangs framing his face blended back into the darkness as he ran for his life. For a brief moment, he distracted his well-trained prey and made a successful attempt on his escape.

Yuna did not know who he was; nor did she know why a young boy like him was there in the first place. However, she did not care and she did not want to know the reason behind it. Her heart clenched at her desire to save the boy, but she knew she would most likely make it worse rather than being of any help; she could only pray for his safety. She understood what it must be like in that situation, because she was once in his shoes.

Yuna felt so useless and vulnerable for the first time in her life.

The battle came and went hastily. Things momentarily cooled down between the two countries. The Leaf's shinobi made a camp and settled down. The wounded were treated immediately while the dead bodies left in the battlefield were collected by those who were in shape and healthy. Yuna found herself an inconspicuous corner under a tree, then made a fire and a meal with the fish she caught.

Orochimaru eyed the little girl sharply, like a needle piercing through skin. "See how brittle human life is? Remember that. And remember that well."

Yuna looked away from his threatening gaze and diverted her attention by concentrating on cooking. She sniffed the air. Gradually, the comforting aroma of grilled fish was spreading, but she did not have the appetite to eat. As she knew, just several hundred metres away, there was Manda merrily cleaning the bleeding earth using his stomach, eating up the fallen enemies and the surviving captives. Yuna held the skewer on her hand and stared at it. She was horrified. Unexpectedly, the fish in her hand was snatched. When she realised it, Orochimaru was already eating it in his totally blood-stained clothes.

"How can you eat?"

The little girl swallowed her saliva hard. She was disgusted. So sickened by the thought of eating after such a horrid battle, she ran to the underbrush and emptied the contents of her stomach. Looking at the girl squatting under the trees and coughing her lungs out, Orochimaru frowned. Although he was a sadist and had put the girl through brutal training, he grew to have some sympathy for her. He knew he had gone overboard this time and she was probably traumatised for life. But he also knew that this was the best and most effective way to let one grow up.

Only those who have been to the battlefield truly understand the meaning of life.

"Take some water." Orochimaru handed a bottle to the girl. Yuna felt better after getting it all out: hunger struck afterwards. Subsequently, she went to grill more fish. Orochimaru sat opposite the girl. He was expecting fear and despair to appear on the girl's face: his effort was in vain. He only could find some sort of all-knowing calmness in her dark green eyes.

"There's another child about your age in the campus. His name's Itachi; he's the son of the leader of Uchiha Clan. It's said that Fugaku wanted his son to understand the truth of living first-hand through experiencing a battle." Orochimaru took a bite of the fourth fish he was having, and commented, in order to test the girl's reaction, "I see. The Uchiha's leader had the same aim as you then."

Yuna was surprised to know there was another person as ill-minded as her sensei. On the other hand, Orochimaru was not expecting that.

"Hohoho, I wasn't expecting you to understand my intention in this practice, but I am glad you do. I must say, Itachi-kun is an exceptionally talented child. At his young age, he excels in many fields," Orochimaru remarked longingly. Yuna was slightly envious of the boy and felt disappointed at her sensei. Her sensei never gave extreme compliments to anyone. She thought that she had worked hard enough to earn her strength and respect from her sensei. Clearly, it was not enough.

"What's so special about him?" Yuna challenged.

Orochimaru conveyed his adoration for the boy with an example. "What will happen if you have kunai thrown at you from 360°?" he questioned.

"I will get hurt because I won't be able to dodge them all." The girl truthfully answered the question.

"But that boy can. I saw him going through such impossible training. I was shocked to find someone to be able to do that, never mind a child. Even I cannot possibly manage that bare-handed. And when the boy activates his Sharingan, he will be even more perfect…. His body is indeed very desirable…" Orochimaru whispered, chuckling evilly to himself.

Yuna understood.

Little did Orochimaru know, Yuna saw a boy with gleaming red eyes on the battlefield; little did Yuna know, those were the precious eyes her sensei was going after.

"When he was brought to the battlefield, however, he cried. He is a child, after all. But then, I was surprised that you didn't cry."

"I…. I cannot cry anymore…."

"Life's too short, especially for us shinobi. The death of my parents, as well as Tsunade's brother and her lover, taught me how fragile life is. Not only will I make myself to become stronger, but I will also live longer. Living with no aims is quite boring. With that said, if you have a longer life, you will find the more interesting aspects in due time." Orochimaru stroked Yuna's hair with his stone-cold hand and brought up a tyrannical smile.

"You are a special child too, I must say. You have notable talents, but that's not what impresses me. I am astonished by how grown-up your way of thinking is. I have seen many premature children, but not one like you. You seem to have grasped the fundamentals of life – your eyes look as if they can see through life and death. That doll-like face is very misleading. You are mentally much older than your appearance says so. What a freak."

"It's not like I want to grow up so fast!" Yuna was fuming at being called a freak by her own sensei. She gnashed her teeth lightly and took a furious bite of the newly-grilled fish.

The teacher was entertained by his student's sudden change of mood. "Hmm, Yuna, I just can't place a finger on you. You strange child." He laughed to himself at her uncommon and silly behavior.

Late at night, with the sound of firewood cracking, Yuna rested in her sleeping bag. She had a tough day, both physically and mentally. She could hear screams and explosions echoing in her head. She shut her eyes and covered her ears tightly; frowning, Yuna hid herself into the sleeping bag. In her hallucinating state of exhaustion, Yuna could vaguely make out her teacher's low murmurings next to her.

"I know I am right, but I want someone else's existence to prove me right as well. Live on, Yuna, until the day I destroy Konoha and turn it into thin dust…."

Those were the last words she heard from her teacher, right when she was still half-asleep. She thought it was all just a nightmare.

The next day when Yuna woke up, she found herself in her bedroom at home. Her body felt numb and broken. She then realised she must have been carried home in the early morning. Yuna was woken up completely by the overwhelming anger of her father. Her heart was tingling to get up as well, seeing Kushina weeping in distress by the bed and Minato pacing around in anxiety with documents in his hands.

In a tone full of authority, Minato sternly demanded an explanation for the young girl's irresponsible actions. "Where have you been? Do you have any idea how worried your mother and I have been for the last two days?" The blond man tightened his fists and the papers in his hands crinkled in his grip.

"Sensei gave me instructions to do survival training in forest of death. Papa, mama, I'm sorry to have worried you."

As long as Minato and Kushina asked, Yuna was always honest with them. This time round, she chose to hide the truth. She did not want to worry them any more. Minato took a moment to observe and think. The girl consciously avoided eye contact. He saw through the lies and he suspected something serious must have happened. However, he did not press on. Instead, he softened up and pulled the girl into a hug.

"It was my fault that I let you become Orochimaru-san's student. I'm so sorry to put you through this."

It was she who wanted to become stronger; it was she who wanted Orochimaru to be her teacher, it was she who got herself in that situation. Yuna opened her mouth, and nothing came out. It had been a while that Yuna had been trying to deceive herself into telling herself to respect and have faith in her sensei. She hated herself for lying to her parents, but she did not want to admit it either. Until Yuna heard those very words out of Orochimaru's mouth, she did not want to believe what her sensei had become - or rather, to finally acknowledge the ugly truth. Yuna was too fatigued to keep up with her dilemma. She knew if she did not inform the authorities, she would only do injustice to the innocent sacrifice. She was sobbing in her parents' heart-warming embrace when she confessed apologetically:

"Sensei's going to betray us."

* * *

**Re checkTHISout: I will resume PoT soon. A massive sorry about the long wait.**


	11. Discovery

A/N: Be nice, make me a happy writer, review. Pretty please :3

* * *

**Chapter 11 – Discovery**

The Land of Fire was a fairly warm country, and so it did not snow much in winter. That year, however, white crystals kept falling from the sullen sky, overcasting the earth with rueful snow. It was the coldest winter in Konohagakure for fifty years. Fingers and toes were numb; the cold reached to the bone and chilled throughout the body, but it was a good feeling – it made all the troubles go away. They were days of magic. Whiteness burst through layers of clouds and surrounded everything. It covered the dirt and piled upon the ground. The bare paths made of residue and rocks were covered with smoothness. These fluffy flakes grasped onto the branches of the stark bare trees, giving them back their beauty they lost in the season of fall. The sun sparkled and picked out glittery diamonds in the frost. This pureness brought silence and wonder with it; changing the landscape completely and turning it into a whole new world. One would stand outside in awe, head lifted to the sky and arms out trying to comprehend and embrace it with joy.

The weather added a refined touch on that New Year celebration. It was all really magical. In his office, Minato was standing and waiting by the window, watching children having fun snow-fighting and building snowmen, while parents were keeping an eye on them from a distance and having fun amongst themselves. As the Hokage, he could not have asked more to live seeing this peaceful day. As a husband, he savored every moment he spent with his other half. As a father, he cherished any second he had with his child. He smiled to himself and thought that all was well.

_Knock, knock, knock._

"Come in."

"Hokage-sama, they're here," a man announced and brought him back to reality.

"Thank you, Raido. Genma, please tell Kushina that I'll be back for shōgatsu as soon as I'm done. You know what she's like."

Minato was beaming when the man said casually, "Yes, sir. I will inform milady right away."

Genma got on with his order with a cheeky grin on his face.

Five strangers entered the room. They were powerful shinobi from foreign land. To take precaution, eight black ops were in the room on guard. In the elite team, a certain silver-haired man, with his new explored skills of Sharingan along with his other advanced skills, was chosen to be employed.

"Please don't make me do it the hard way. I do not want to repeat myself. I will ask once only and I want an answer to each of my question. Is that understood?"

The blond man proclaimed in a solemn voice full of authority and might, "What is your intention setting up a jutsu across the Land of Fire?"

There was no reaction from the five strangers.

"Okay. I'll rephrase my question. From what I've gathered, two out of five you here are sensory type. Since it took us about two and a half month to track you down, it seems to me that you are all jonin-level shinobi and you are from Kirigakure. It'd be a good guess that you are on a double S-rank mission. The jutsu used covered a vast area. It's so advanced that I needed to send our best fuuinjutsu specialist to get it sorted. It was used to pick up a specific life force. In other words, you were using it to accurately pinpoint someone important and fast. Who is it you're searching for?"

There was another suspense.

"The Fire Daimyo? The Third Hokage? Me...?"

Minato suggested a list of possibilities. There was still no answer from the intruders. Not a nod, not a head shake. He was starting to feel like a mad man, talking to himself like a fool. He sighed and gave an order unwillingly.

"Ibiki, start monitoring."

"Yes, sir."

"We've been searching for a little girl. It has been two years since she's been missing. In fact, we don't know if she's still alive. But we have to keep trying, even with the slightest hope. This is the last country we have not searched yet. It's by far the most powerful country and geographically, we would not have thought she would end up here."

Before the Konoha's young master of interrogation could make a move, the leader of the five spoke finally to avoid any unnecessary torture.

"Who is this child?"

"…"

"Why are you searching for a child?"

"…"

"Have you found her?"

"…"

"I will not tolerate any threats to my country. As the Hokage, I am afraid I will have to take preventative measure to protect my land. Is that clear?"

Eventually, they told the leaf who exactly they were looking for. "Yes, Hokage-sama. I apologise on behalf of the conservative fraction from the Land of Water. We come in peace. We do not seek warfare with you. As you must have known, there's the never ending civil war in our homeland. To us, the loyal servants of the House of Asuka, the safety and survival of the royals are our only hope to a brighter future."

"Do you know how she looks like?"

They gave him detailed description of the child they were looking restlessly. But something did not feel right. Somehow, it felt that the description of this young girl sounded too familiar to Minato. He frowned deeply as he listened suspiciously. A six years old child. Long blue hair. Dark green eyes. He paused for a moment to digest all the information before asking the final question that would confirm his suspicions.

"What's her name?"

"Yuna-dono."

Minato had a precise idea of who she was for a while now, but it was still a tremendous shock hearing it from someone else for it to be proven. He never asked Yuna for verification. Because he knew, to bring up the subject, her sorrowful memories of her forsaken past would only once again torment her to sleep at nights. To keep both parties happy, they came to an agreement. Minato swore on his blood to the imperial guards to keep her safe and raise her as his own daughter, just as what he had been doing for the last two years: the five respectively entrusted her life and well being to him. As a descendent of the fled away Namikaze from the Land of Water, which was an influential family originated from the royal house, he felt he was destined to raise Yuna. Although some surviving members had successfully fled away and had settled down in the Land of Fire like locals since the beginning of series of civil wars, they never forgot their root. Over the decades, the Namikaze inherited the history of the Land of Water; in case, one day, they would be needed to fulfil their role. Now that Minato was the last surviving Namikaze in the Land of Fire, he felt that it must be fate to have Yuna brought to him. He finally understood his first interaction with Yuna; he finally understood his intuition to help her; he finally understood her behavior.

He was glad to have met Yuna and he was glad that it was he, not someone else, who had found the girl.

* * *

"Sensei, do you think she remembers anything at all?"

"I think she does to certain extent, but she doesn't want to talk about it and remember any of it."

"They really trust you, sensei. May I ask why?"

"My family is originally from the Land of Water. It's a branch family of her family."

"I see. Does that mean, in theory, you are her only relative left, even if you're very distant?"

"No, as far as I know in the Land of Fire, there's at least another one. Yuna is also the grandchild of Uzumaki Manami, who happens to be Kushina's aunt. It's funny how we both end up together; I found Yuna and we raise her together."

"Are you going to tell her all these later?"

"In due time, of course."

* * *

The New Year was always the time when people go to relatives and friends house and greet them with good wish. It was also common to have the workers to visit their superior to show their loyalty. So, for the Namikaze, they did not have much travelling to do; nonetheless, they were busy with visitors. Mostly, they stayed at home, looking smart and greeted all the guests with a smile on their face. Many came prepared with seasonal goods for the family and otoshidama for the Hokage's daughter. At first, Yuna was happy to receive presents and money, then she got bored. She did not like pretending to be a doll, sit there looking pretty, and do really nothing for the rest of the day. She was getting tired of saying 'Happy New Year' to any more faces that she barely knew. She wanted to go outside, and for once, to join the other children.

"Mama, can I go now? It's snowing!" Yuna pleaded with puppy eyes. Kushina saw that coming, yet she could not resist it. She gave in without even trying.

"Okay, okay. But you are coming with us when we go to visit Sandaime. You're not missing that."

"Yes, ma'am."

Yuna grinned victoriously as she quickly put on some more clothes before heading out. On her way out, she bumped into a man who was heading home as he promised to.

"Whoa, slow down, Yuna. Be careful of slippery surface, all right? Go and have fun, but remember we're going to-"

"Yes, papa. We're going to gramps later, I know. See ya."

She ran off again. Minato chuckled at the impatient child and fazed Kakashi, who was accompanying him, a _look_… Kakashi followed the girl's steps half-heartedly but obediently.

_She doesn't need protection when she's playing with snow. More like the other children need to watch out for her if she's in bad mood… Ah, I see._

As soon as Minato changed out of his Hokage attire to festive clothing, there came another slot of visitors. This time, a married woman and a boy stopped by to visit. The woman was wearing a komon kimono with her family's fan patterns. Next to her, there was a young boy in formal black kimono, wearing a haori with the Uchiha crest at the back.

"Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu (明けましておめでとうざいます), Hokage-sama, okusama." The boy greeted and bowed toward them to show his respect.

"I wish you too a happy new year, Itachi-kun. It's okay to call me Minato-ojisan. You don't have to refer me as the Hokage." Minato laughed lightly and thought fondly of him. He was impressed by how well-mannered and how well-taught the boy was.

Kushina faced her husband, giving him a dangerous look. "No, honey. It's not okay for him to call you ojisan, because that makes me a obasan. Do I look like a middle-aged woman to you? No." She turned to the raven-haired boy, changing spontaneously to a sweet, motherly kind of look. "Other than that, I wish you a happy new year too, Itachi-chan."

Minato was looking nervous. He did not want to anger that woman on New Year's day. That would surely be bad luck for the rest of the year!

"Mou, Kushina. I know you have your hubby wrapped your finger tip, but you really don't need to show me up on new year's day, while scaring my lit' boy. Some best friend you are, huh?" By teasing the red head, Mikoto saved the man from his forthcoming misery. At the same time, her gut feeling told her that her friend was playing with them.

Out of the blue, the young boy questioned earnestly.

"May I ask how I should address you?"

There followed a tongue-tied moment for Kushina. Minato was trying to hold in his breath so he wouldn't laugh; Mikoto was thinking of comebacks she could use on her friend later; poor Itachi was confused.

Kushina burst out into laughter. She found the situation too amusing. She only meant it as a joke, but her husband was too slow to catch on, and he was supposed to be the fastest man in Konoha's history. They all joined in after having it figured out.

"How old are you now, Itachi-chan?" Kushina offered the guests kinako mochi and green tea.

"Seven years old." The boy received his cup with both hands and nodded thankfully to the hospitality.

"I've read your file," Minato recalled. "You're very gifted. You joined the academy last year and you've skipped two years already. It looks like you'll able to graduate this April. Well done!"

"Thank you very much, Hoka…" Young Itachi trailed away immediately when he met the blond man's sapphire eyes. "Minato-ojisan," he quickly added, with a hint of redness across his cheeks. The man smiled in return; just then, an idea came to him, his smile grew even wider.

_Academy, good plan._

"I am sorry that Fugaku can't make it today. You know, he's very busy at this time of the year. And here's the otoshidama for…. Come to think of it, where's Yuna-chan? I haven't seen her around." Mikoto noticed her absence in the house, finally realizing to mention it.

Kushina expressed Yuna's enthusiasm for her with no exaggeration. "Oh, that child went _crazy_ as soon as she saw those _white things_ falling from the sky. She quite literally ran out to play."

"She is a child, so let her play."

"I know. I'm glad she plays, really. What about Itachi-chan? Do you like snow? Are you as crazy as my daughter over it?"

"I don't mind snow." He answered the question diplomatically. He did not want to sound like a weird kid. As a primary fire-user as himself, he was not particularly keen on any form of water... Especially when it reminded him of that day, the sleeting day when he was abandoned on the battlefield.

* * *

It was getting late. It was time for the Namikaze to visit the Third, and the Uchiha needed to get going as well. They parted and the couple was getting ready.

Itachi walked ahead of his mother, lost in his own thought. He was brought back to the memory when he was in absolute darkness. He was sweating in cold, all muscles frozen, and he was so rigid that he remembered not being able to move an inch. Somehow in time, this incomprehensible sense of inner-peace washed over him, and his body began to move on its own will. He was blessed. He felt as if someone was somewhere, watching over him and praying for him. He considered himself to be too fortunate to make it out alive. He stopped in his tracks when he heard no more steps behind him. He decided to walk back to catch his mother.

His mother was waving and smiling at the girl with blue hair.

"Happy New Year, Mikoto-obasan!"

The cold, freezing, frostbite wind that nipped her hair, face, and fingertips carrying little snowflakes, they were sprinkled all over her like twinkly glisters. The thick snow had covered everything in its path like white ash, causing the young girl to stand out from the plain landscape even more so than she already did. With her blue hair, she drew attentions to herself; with her captivating smile, she cast away some dreariness; with her enchanting voice, she reached to one's heart with glee.

_Water can be pleasant, I suppose._

She turned away to meet her family before she could notice the boy behind her mother's friend.

"What've you been up to?" Kushina was curious to see Yuna had her eyes closed and put both of her hands on the ground. She looked like she was concentrating very hard for something.

"You'll see in a sec."

An ice sculpture suddenly appeared before them. It was a mini replication of Minato's face on the Hokage mount. The children nearby stopped their snow fight in amazement; even the adults could not hold back their surprise.

"I know it's a week late, but happy birthday, papa. You see, I can't give you the present without snow. I'm not good enough yet."

Minato released tears of joy. He quickly wiped them away and pulled his daughter into a hearty embrace.

"Thank you so much."

Kakashi and Kushina at the side, meanwhile, shared the same thought in their minds.

_That's a kekkei genkai of water and wind: ice release._

Kushina was sure that she must have missed out a lot in order to not comprehend what and why Yuna was capable of. She did not know Yuna has wind affinity and a kekkei genkai! Minato saw the confused expression on his wife's face and gave her a look to assure her to tell her all details later.

"Let's get going before it gets dark," said Minato, changing the topic before it caught the public's attention, and he hurried them away.


	12. Schooling rather than homeschooling

A/N: Dear readers, by this stage, you should at least know this piece of information about me - I am a MASSIVE Itachi fan! XD

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**Chapter 12 – Schooling rather than homeschooling**

If anyone walked pass the supreme corridor that afternoon, one could faintly pick out a soothing baritenor voice beyond the door. Inside, a fair-skinned blond was humming a joyful tune while he was tidying up all the used papers and references. Minato finished work a lot earlier that day and he was certainly in good moods. He took a final look at his room and he thought to himself, good to go. He then left the Hokage office at ease and took the long route through the academic division of the building. He stopped by the Third year class and he peeped through the glass window on the door; observing the class with interests. In the class, there was the young Uchiha he met about a week ago. Observantly, the boy noticed Hokage-sa… no, Minato-jisan standing outside the classroom. He smiled lightly at his direction before turned his head back to face the blackboard. The fair-skinned blond gave him a little wave in return then soon disappeared before the man's mere presence could create a commotion from the crowd. He headed straight to the staff room with a satisfied grin on his face.

In front of the house's door, Minato took his key out of his pocket; opening and closing the door behind him soundlessly. He took off his shoes and put down his key in subtle motion. After that, he gingerly moved towards the mouth-watering aroma of home cooking. The missus was also seemingly to be in a good mood. As he walked closer to the kitchen, he could hear the other sound which was overpowered by the noise of knife chopping, water boiling and oil sizzling. Tuneful musical notes were coming out of her upward curving lips. He was about to offer her his help, but then after a second thought, no: he remembered the wisdom he was passed onto by Shikaku. She was doing fine and if he had offered her his help, he would probably get something like 'It's my kitchen. I'll do things my way.' from his love. That would not end well. A week or even two weeks on the couch maybe? He knew all well too that if he dared to attempt freeing himself by sleeping in the guest room, he would not be back on his, well, their bed for at least a month. That would so affect his performance for the village and he wouldn't get any... No, that would not be good either way!

'_It's too bothersome to have an argument over such trivia matter.' Quoted the genius strategist of Konohagakure._

Although Minato remembered clearly that his friend had an argument with his wife because he was too _lethargic_ to clear out the rubbish bins, not because of his eagerness to share the house chores – quite the opposite of him, really. But all the same, it would be wise to avoid to any argument in a marriage, especially one with a spontaneous woman, because you never know what she's going to do next. So, there he was, leaning against the door way, with his arms crossed and a carefree look on his face, waiting to be noticed by his wife. And there she was, juggling around in the kitchen like a circus clown, not having time to divert her attentions to notice her husband standing there, watching her every movement for his entertainment. When dinner was cooking under way and the straw was simmering, Minato took his chance.

The moment when Kushina was fixing the loose strand of red hair in front which was blocking her vision, she was pulled into a sensuous hug from behind. The man approached the woman from her back. She did not see that coming. He had his arms tenderly wrapped around her waist and his head gently rested on her right shoulder. She was taken by surprise. He whispered something into her ear, earning him a smile.

"You're back early today." She remarked.

"I would be even earlier if I didn't go to the academy." He replied.

She was impressed. "It's all ready for Yuna?"

"Well, milady, believe it or not, I AM the Hokage. If I can't even do that, how'd you expect me to run Konoha?" He said jokingly.

"Fair point, Hokage-SAMA." She just had to stress that honorific prefix.

_So much for flirting, huh? Stupid Kakashi, move your sorry ass. You don't want to see them make-out! For Konoha's sake, he's your sensei!_

Before that scene, the silver-haired was debating with himself that if he should cough and bring the two back from La-la land or if he should escape before he was noticed by them. He did not want to be difficult and _uncooperative_ – he chose option two. Though deep down, he was fascinated to watch on. Okay, maybe he should drop down the Icha Icha series for a while for his health. He walked out tacitly and accidentally bumped into another person. The girl was about voiced out her question but she was stopped as the young man quickly put his index finger on his closed mouth.

"How did you get in? Shouldn't they know you're here? Why do we have to speak like this?" Yuna fired her questions almost inaudibly. Instead of answering her questions, he showed the girl his key to the house. She understood, then she asked again:

"You haven't answered my second and third question."

"You parents are…" As he was unmasked, Yuna could see the redness across his cheeks and she once again understood. Yuna did not want to ruin their fun either, but she knew Kakashi was very reluctant to do _it_. And so, between the two, she drew the short straw and got on with the embarrassing bits. She went back to the unlocked door to shut it with some force.

"Tadaima. Papa. Mama."

"Seriously, how would you like to have someone barge in like that?" Kakashi hissed lowly and had his mouth wide open.

"I wouldn't know. I don't have a boyfriend, never mind a husband." She casually retorted back.

Kakashi felt wordless at her action.

_She's still young. When she's older, I swear I'll so tease her._

* * *

"Itadakimasu!"

As soon as all four voices called out, they dug into the hot pot. Dinner for the night was oden, a heart-warming and winter dish strew in lightly soy-flavoured dashi source, serving with boiled rice, miso soup, and seasonal pickled vegetable (konomono). The pot had plenty of delish ingredients: boiled eggs, chicken meat balls (tsukune), fish cake tubes (chikuwa), fried tofu fritter (gamondoki), octopus, and various root vegetables. It was delicious. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the Friday night full-house family dinner. As always, the food was great and enjoyable to eat. Kakashi was particularly fond of the tenderly-cooked wedges of white radish (daikon); Yuna liked the fish cake tubes; Minato loved it all. Dinner was a time when they could all get together and enjoy eating with each other's company. It was the time for the family to listen to each other and most importantly, to connect them as a family, not just some random people living under the same roof. For Kushina, dinner became an opportunity and a gift each day gave her, rather than a chore she had to attend to as a good wife. She was delighted to be rewarded memories of fun, meaningful, and joyous dinners with her family.

"I've got something for you, Yuna. It's completely up to you at the end of the day. I am planning to send you to the academy. You'll meet lots of new faces. I promise you, you won't be lonely. You'll be studying with a whole class of people. It's going to be great fun. What do you think?" Minato carefully made his first move, avoiding the phrase 'making new friends', as he knew, there was no guarantee in such matters with his little girl.

Instead of a 'yes' or a 'no', with a worried look, Yuna turned to face her mother pessimistically.

"Mama, did I do something wrong? Do you not want me anymore?"

"No no no. That's not true, honey. We're just thinking that you should hang around with more people, especially with people your age. I mean, I met Minato in the academy. We became good friends, after that, we became more. You never know. Also, academy is a good place to test your ability. You'll see just where you're at and I assure you, you'll be surprised." Kushina got to admit, what she said was not entirely true. Minato and she were not friends in the academy. It was more like Minato stalked her when she was busy fighting all the aggravating boys off. But Yuna did not need to know that.

Kakashi further reinforced the idea. "I agree. It's good for you, Yuna. It'll be good training for you in many ways." He did not personally enjoy his time in the academy that much, but he could not rule out all possibilities. He too saw that the girl had some serious deviancy of _friends_ her age. What better way to do that?

"Also, I'd think most things are too easy for your liking. I'm putting you into the graduating class. Um… how about a challenge? If you can graduate by April, which is less than three months' time, I will grant you a wish." Minato proposed. He was hoping desperately that she would buy it.

As soon as the winning prize came out, Yuna took her chance. "Ok. Papa, that's any wish, right?" The three of them made academy sound so attractive. On top of that, if she managed to graduate on time, she could also make a wish come true. It was too tempting to refuse.

"Of course"

"That's the words of the Hokage?"

"Yes, it is." Minato chuckled lightly at that. Then he added, "Great, you're starting on Monday."

* * *

Over the weekend, Yuna only heard more about how much fun the academy was. Mostly from Minato, as he certainly had a good time in the academy both socially and academically. Above all, he enjoyed very much just gazing at Kushina from the corner of his eyes. To his deep blue eyes, she looked ever-so-graceful even when she was beating the boys up like there was no tomorrow. Yuna was now too excited to eat breakfast properly. She could not wait to get into school.

"Slow down. Don't choke yourself just because you're excited for school." Minato reminded her with a gentle smile. Yuna flashed a mischievous grin and slowed down her pace dramatically. It was as unhurried as a film in slow motion. She picked up the spoon from her bowl, scooped up some porridge, lifted up to her mouth, parted her lips gradually, put it in, chewed it well and finally swallowed the little spatula of food.

"Yes, slow down, but not _that_ slow! You'll be late at this rate and you don't want that on your first day. I'll get going first. Have fun." Minato could only laugh at her melodrama. After he left his seat, Yuna picked up her pace again to finish her breakfast.

Kushina was dressed in her shinobi attire when she took Yuna to the academy. All shinobi walked pass took a bow at her and she smiled back to show her gratitude. After two stairs and four corridors into the building, they reached outside of classroom 3-A, the homeroom of the upper half of the graduating students. Yuna looked up to the woman and waited for something to happen.

"Trust me, it's going to be fine. You'll like it." Kushina bent down and handed a bento box to the girl. She assured the uncertain girl with a smile. Before Kushina's departure, the mother and daughter hugged shortly before she headed to the Jonin standby station.

Finally, she was there.

Yuna entered the classroom and walked in through the front door. Once she stepped inside, she was immediately overwhelmed by everyone's chit-chat and girls screaming. She was very confused. She wondered why there were lots of girls gathering by the backdoor of the classroom, screaming their lungs out. But then again, she did not bother walking all the way there to check out what was happening, she simply found a space somewhere in the middle of the room, where there was a clear view of the blackboard; a good distance from where the teacher was going to be standing, she sat down. Some students in class noticed the new face smiled at her and she smiled back respectfully. Then, she took out her sketch book, to entertain herself before the lessons began.

In the centre of the screaming crowd, there was the young Uchiha. He felt uncomfortable at the focused attention he was getting. He arrived every day to the same situation – girls verbally fighting amongst themselves about who should sit next to him for the day, with him standing in the middle of them all, although he had no say in it whatsoever. That, however, was partially the result of his own doing, as he was too kind to reject them coldly; the odd number in the class did not help either, it left an open on him to be attack. With that said, he was tired of it. That's definitely another motivation for him to graduate from the academy as soon as possible, so he did not have to tolerate this any longer. In the mist of his thoughts, he spotted something unfamiliar to the class. Ocean blue hair. It was a rare hair colour as he recalled he only knew of one person in the whole of Konoha who had it. The hair was neatly braided and sided onto the left shoulder. She was sitting alone on that row. He had a gut feeling that it must be her. From what he saw, she was different from the others. At least, she was a 'she' who did not go crazy on him. There was a light bulb moment for young Itachi.

He excused himself from the girls and moved towards his usual seat. The girls were unexpected of that, as he would normally stand in the middle, waiting to be pair up with one of them. Over there, she sat down in composure and drew in silence. He took a look at her carefully to confirm his guess.

_It is her._

"Can I take this seat?" Although it was normally his seat, he felt rude to not ask at all.

"Suit yourself." She took a brief glimpse at him, and then she returned to her sketching.

The boy felt he should introduce himself properly since they were going to seat and work together as partners, but he felt bad to disrupt her further. He merely remained standing, continued to observe her every single move. She was working with shades to the outline she drew of a swan. He could tell she was having so much fun. She was changing different shades of pencils notoriously; she was rubbing and shading to perfect her creation - fully engaging herself in the piece of paper. She was smiling to herself; at that, he was smiling too, just because she was smiling.

The class teacher came in and every one returned to their seats. Silence fell upon the classroom. The teacher began the lesson by taking the register.

"Namikaze Yuna?"

"Hai." The blunette replied with her melodic voice. With her unusual surname and her sudden entrance to exam class, the teacher took a quick mental note of who she was.

"Seyama Narahiko?"

"Akechi Ikki?"

"Hyuga Tokuma?"

"Muro Naora?"

"Uzuki Yugao?"

"Matsumoto Rui?"

"Honri Chiaki?"

"Okura Kan?"

"Uchiha Itachi?"

"Hai." The raven haired boy who sat next to Yuna just answered to that. Just then, revelation came to her of who exactly he was. She abruptly turned her head to gawk at him. She had her mouth formed into an o-shape. It was clear that she wanted to say something but nothing came out. He turned to see a blanched expression on her fine-looking facial features. He could only smile softly at her surprise.


	13. Namikaze Yuna Guide to Surviving School

A/N: This chapter is a tribute to another fanfic I read sometime ago. (Trunks Briefs Guide To Scoring a Date by Majin Videl - I think it's hilarious!) 0.0

* * *

**Chapter 13 – ****Namikaze Yuna Guide to Surviving School**

For the small minority, there went another boring lesson on theory of ninjutsu – pointless and a complete waste of time. It was only first class after registration and it already felt like four in the afternoon. The class was to (re)learn about chakra; to be more specific, the foremost basis of chakra, its fundamental properties, functions and potential usages. The lesson went on and on… The teacher explained the simplest things of all in multiple ways at least twice using straightforwardly comprehendible wordings before he finally settling himself to give a demonstration to the class as a prove of the theory he was teaching. The other subjects had similar traits: uninformative, unproductive, and very repetitive. It was tiring just to listen to, Yuna thought. She resorted to fall back onto one of her many backup plans again. In contrast to Yuna, her extraordinarily popular (with girls) desk-mate listened attentively and carefully. He wrote down notes that he didn't need and occasionally offered the class an answer to the teacher's question if no one else could. He did, however, always notify the girl who sat next to him before he did so. The boy noticed she chose something different to do that day. She wasn't drawing nor was she sleeping on top of her thick copy of the Shinobi Essential Encyclopaedia. She was writing.

* * *

**Namikaze Yuna Guide to Surviving School**

For us all, school is a part of life that everyone experiences at some point. The purpose of school is to prepare us children to learn adapting to harsh environments of which we live in. From what I've gathered so far, there aren't many children around who are fond of studying. Whether you enjoy learning or not, it is no common practice to like schooling as a whole. Let's face it: school is a drag. It might seem hard, even impossible, to survive a day in school, never mind surviving in the real world. But with this guide, based on my own experience, you can make it easier on yourself.

1. Make friends with your fellow students

From my observation, they lend you a hand when you're their friend, but they will do otherwise if you're their enemy. To avoid backstabs or similar situations, it is vital that you stay in good terms with them. And to certain extent, they make good company to your dreary days as some like to kill time by playing silly games such as passing notes, fortune telling (extremely popular amongst girls), and stabbing a textbook with pencil to see how many pages are left a mark without breaking through the papers. These are effective methods despite that I do not apply them often myself due to my personal disinterest.

Tips for playing games mentioned above:

_Passing notes_: remember to fold them small and be discreet. Also, don't put anything too personal in them, just in case someone gets hold of the note and it gets out. For example, say the teacher found a ripped piece of paper of the floor. He would pick it up and ask who it belonged to. Of course, no one would answer. Then, the teacher would most probably read the note out loud to the whole class shamelessly.

"I will marry you, Itachi-kun, and become Mrs. Uchiha. Love, your future wife, Chiaki, xxx."

It would be plainly embarrassing for anyone mentioned on the note. In this particular case, it would not be a good idea to have your secret ambition and crush declared to the world. Moreover, if you make your existence known to your target, and if he decides to not take a liking to you, you now have decreased your percentage of success. Bad move.

_Fortune telling_: remember not to giggle out loud despite how amusing your fortune turns out to be. You don't want to confront the following questions, because you surely shouldn't have an answer to any of them.

What's so funny?

What amuses you so much to make you laugh in class?

Care to share the joke to everyone?"

_Textbook stabbing_: beware of the noise level.

2. Doodling

To express yourself in the form of art is always a good way to spend your time. It is highly entertaining and time flies when you do. I particularly find sketching anything comes to my mind a great way of dealing with boredom in class and in general.

3. Doing homework in class

If you understand fully what the teacher is teaching; you have no need to pay attention and, consequently, if you are bored, this is when you do your homework. This is an example of good use of time. You may even turn homework to classwork, finish what you're given, and so then you have more free time when you're home. Yes, they say homework is for HOME. But who really wants to write an essay on Senju Hashirama and the foundation of Konohakagure or do research on the daily life of a Hokage when you could have been doing something else? I mean, as far as I am concerned, I am part of the daily life of the current Hokage. Really, I am more humble than I look to write about myself in my homework.

4. Look out of the window or zone out

You'll be surprised to find that trees and birds can be so interesting to watch, comparing to the blackboard which is full of meaningless words and that ever-so-serious expression on teacher's long face.

5. Read magazines or novels

They are often better reads than your textbook. Hide the reading of your choice behind your textbook, but figure out a way to disguise it if your teacher makes rounds of the classroom.

6. Bribe your sibling(s)

You may think what your sibling(s) have anything to do with your academic career; this is where you're so wrong if you think not. They could be your best pals or they could be your worst nightmare. To put it in simple terms, if you don't abide the law of bribery, it would then be difficult to maintain the peaceful siblingship. For example, I skived practical the other day and I unfortunately bumped into a face which was too familiar to me. No matter how much I wanted to walk pass him like I didn't see him, I was sure he would tell on me if I didn't do something.

"Hiya, Kakashi-nii. You're on leave?" I greeted that masked silver head in an unnaturally-cheerful voice, along with a rigid smile on my face.

"Yes, I've got nothing to do in the house. I was walking around to… hey, it's Tuesday, aren't you supposed to be in practical right now?" He caught on quick, as expected of him. I made my next move.

"Yeah, but you know how boring it is and the teacher did say we can finish early as soon as we throw 30 kunai into the middle of the target; if not, we have to stay on."

"Did you?"

"Yes, I did in 5 minutes actually. It was way too easy and obviously the teacher was trying to motivate us to work harder, but it backfired him in my case."

"Yeah, that seems to me your aiming skill has gotten worse, you should have stayed and done more practice."

"Ok, maybe. But I'm better than most of them anyway."

"Does that mean apart from you there's someone else who has rather good aiming skills as well?"

"Yes, I think there's one - no, two others."

"Did they stay?"

"They did, because they are Uchiha and Hyuga."

"Oh, I see. Anyway, I don't think you should skip class just because you can, that's poor manners. The teacher could take it as a reflection of Minato-sensei's poor parenting. That does injustice to sensei's effort to raise you the best he could. And that just doesn't look good for the leader of Konoha."

"Yes, but Chiba-sensei _did_ say we _can_ leave if we rise to the challenge. I didn't do anything I was not allowed, so sensei can't really complain, if you know what I mean. It's really boring and I'm not up for it today. Just this once, ok? Please don't tell them, especially papa."

"My reward is…"

"Papa was baking out his stress last night. I'll give you one third of my share of the cheesecake. Pretty please, nii-chan."

"Hum… you don't call me _nii-chan_, should I be scared?"

I didn't say anything, hoping he would just take the offer. I only gave a forced smile in return and waited for his reply impatiently. I was deep down panicking like a headless chicken.

"Half."

"Deal, but you're buying me candy floss."

"Deal."

They are a dangerous species. They are evil creatures. Most importantly, they are greedy pigs. (That greedy Hatake had his own share and my half. I wish him luck to meet obesity in his near future.) So why not use it to your advantage? Because, for 99.8% of the time, they take bribes. Therefore, they are relatively easy to deal with. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you can also take the chance and turn it to your favour, just as what I did on that day.

7. Respect your teachers

It's always good to show respect to your superiors. It's a simple fact. Your school life runs smoother if you have the teachers' support.

8. Come to a middle ground with your teachers

It's never a good idea to have your teachers on your tail. Therefore, you have to satisfy them in some way. There are various ways to achieve it; however, the most effective way is through your academic results. If you are not an A-grade student, I suggest you to at least pretend to be a keen student, so you leave them a good impression. On the other hand, if you are a student with good grades, the teachers cannot do much about you apart from your behaviour. So, you only need to follow my instructions above and you will get by.

9. Socialise

It's important that you spend some time with your fellow students. Yes, they put themselves into groups and it is usual that you have to make an effort to join them. All in all, it is a necessary move. Why?

Please go back to the very beginning if you still haven't gotten the idea of school into your head yet.

10. Choose a good desk mate – preferably clever and intellectual

Last but not least, this is vital to your school career. You must get yourself a good partner, who you can trust to cover up for your shirking. (eg. Wakes you up accordingly when you fall asleep in class and gives you a signal when the teacher's coming your way

* * *

"Pst, Yuna-san. Sensei's going to ask you to read the next paragraph next. Page 31, sixth line." The raven haired boy hinted and brought her back.

"Right, the technical definition of chakra. Thanks." She whispered lowly back and gave a redeeming smile to the young Uchiha before standing up and reading it in a clear voice to the class.

"Chakra is the resulting form of energy when two other forms of energy are mixed together. The two energies are referred to as physical energy and spiritual energy. Physical energy is collected from the body's cells and can be increased through training, stimulants, and exercise. Spiritual energy is derived from the mind's consciousness, the soul, and can be increased through studying, meditation, and experience. Having these two energies become more powerful will in-turn make the created chakra more powerful. Therefore, practising a technique repeatedly will build-up experience, building up one's spiritual energy, and thus allowing more chakra to be created. As a result, the ninja is able to do that same technique with more power. This same cycle applies for physical energy, except this time, instead of doing meditation, one could do push-ups."

* * *

Since the third day of school, Yuna learned that her father was now too _busy_ to eat with her at lunch time. From the fact that Raido was guarding the door instead of Genma and for the third day in a row that he was too _busy_, Yuna took the sign her father gave her and had lunch with her peers. Yuna sat with a group of girls for lunch. She mainly sat there with them and listened when she ate. The girls sometimes asked Yuna questions, she would answer them openly as long as she felt comfortable.

"You only started to study with us this month and you already share top of the class with Itachi-kun, who also joined this class recently, about four months ago. Before that, were you in the year below with him? You two seem to work with each other very well." A girl asked with interest.

"No, I was home-schooled."

"Oh- oh- oh-, did Hokage-sama teach you personally? You know, being his daughter and all that jazz." Another girl jumped at excitement to hear exclusive information about the Hokage.

"If he had time, but I was mostly taught by mama." Yuna didn't think that man, who taught her all the foundations and beyond, should ever be named nor mentioned in front of her classmates.

"Aww… that's so cute you still call your parents papa and mama. I suppose, you're still quite young." The girl called Chiaki exclaimed with a mocking undertone, as Yuna could recall her name from the accident a few days ago.

Just then, someone walked pass and tapped Yuna's shoulder lightly. A pleasant treble voice apologised for its interruption. She turned around to see her desk mate. A split of a second later, when she was about to say something, she then realised her mouth was full with food. She rapidly covered her mouth and swallowed it before she continued what she was about to ask.

"Sorry about that, can I help?"

Looking amused at her reaction, he hesitated with a chuckle before speaking.

"I put your writing into your draw. Sensei was walking past, I wouldn't think you'd want him to read it."

"Thank you." He helped her to put it away. Yuna tensed up, took in a big breath, exhaled. She felt relief. She imagined he must have read it and was neutral about what she wrote even though she used him as an example.

"I'll go ahead and do some reading first. Catch you later in the library." The boy politely informed Yuna before leaving the girls back to their gossip.

As soon as he left, a voice broke the moment of pause and spoke up.

"He's _so_ nice, isn't he? Your life must be so easy to pair him for projects and discussions. He's smart, good-looking, and an Uchiha. Seriously, I am so jealous of you."

"Yes, Chiaki. Of course, you're jealous. We all know that. But apart from Yuna, there isn't another person in the class who can really sit next to him. Because the boys are all paired up already and if any other girl sits next to him instead, she goes crazy on him. He certainly doesn't like that." A girl with violet hair around Yuna's age cut in right after the sentence was said.

An older girl reinforced the previous statement by the other younger girl. "I agree, although I'd love to sit next to him too. But I don't think I can put up with argument again every morning to fight for that seat, especially when graduation exams are near. Besides, Yuna can be our medium for expressing ourselves to him. Itachi-kun doesn't talk to girls normally. He seems to talk to Yuna regularly and Yuna talks fine with him."

"Yuna's smart and strong as well, they work well together." Yugao once again added.

"Basically, we need Yuna if we want to get close to Itachi-kun. Is that okay with you, Yuna-chan?" another girl spoke and concluded the situation. She asked sweetly of the young blunette.

Yuna was eating in silence when she heard Naora directed the question at her. She smiled and nodded. She knew it did not matter if she spoke of her opinion or not, since they would end up making the decision for her and that she shall go along with it.

* * *

After lunch, it was library time. Yuna liked research, because she could always use it as an excuse to read anything she wanted, not necessarily what she should. Walking through bookshelves and people, she arrived at the history section to see a boy wearing a black top the Uchiha crest imprinted at his back. He was with books in his hands, paled up above his head, cautiously walking towards the window table with his name on the study card, where he had reserved it for the afternoon.

"Itachi-san, would you like me to carry some books for you?" Yuna called out from his back. He could not turn to face her, well he could, but then the books might fall off, and that would make a lot of noise.

"That'd be nice."

Yuna took half of the books from his hands and walked towards their workplace together with him.

The pair halved the books and read materials individually. After that, they discussed their findings together. The girl wrote bullet points as they talked. They came to an agreement in no time. The boy started to write up the report.

Itachi, in fact, offered to write up the report all by himself and he gladly did it, while Yuna was reading books of her interests. Knowing that he could handle it fine and having faith in his intelligence, she took the offer without doubts. He did not mind writing the report up. Nonetheless, he knew if he was someone else, he would never agree to do such thing. It would seem to other people that why one should do it all and the other gets it all for free. He did not see it like that. He thought that if she was not up for writing it, someone had to do it eventually, and he would not risk his grades for that. Besides, she always contributed good ideas and she was always there, although usually doing something non-related to their assignments. They were even in that sense. To get round the problem of having the teacher discovering all the written work was done by one person, Itachi copied and wrote half of the report in Yuna's hand writing.

That was not the only part of his reasoning. Another thing was that if anything made her happy, he would just do it. He knew the way she behaved in class was not right, but he could help to be her partner in crime, despite not committing them himself. He wanted to stay in good terms with her, so at least they would have some fond memories of sitting together as academic partners.

_I guess I am lucky to have him as my partner. I must remember to mention that in my guide. Hum… Gama-jisan was right: writing is good fun._

* * *

**Dear readers: **

**I am sorry that this will be the last update in a month time. EXAMS ARE COMING! Thank you very much for your support so far and I hope I'll continue to keep my writing up to your expectations.**

**Athrna :)**


	14. Stubbornness

A/N: I'm back. It's **double bill** this week! (Next one's on weekend.) Don't miss it.

* * *

**Chapter 14 - Stubbornness**

An end of school day in March, it was a good day. The weather was nice, not the best, but it was okay. There was no history homework, which was great. That meant there would be no need to mention her father's occupation or the man himself in her homework. Yuna cringed at the thought of that teacher – he was one of those who flattered excessively and promoted the good deeds of the current, young and fresh Hokage in an obsequious manner. She thought they acted fake and she considered them as pokers with two faces. She tried to avoid any association with those kinds of people. She did not want them to destroy the harmony in her family by troubling them with any sort of nonsense; she would prefer to be recognised as an individual rather than just the Hokage's daughter.

Children rushed out of the academy building like mad cows, sprinting toward the fences of parents. They were clearly overjoyed that another dreaded school day was finally over. They were shouting, bag-swinging and laughing. It was a touching scene: children running to their parents, smiling, and going home together as a family. Yuna wished that she too had…No. She stopped herself thinking anything of that sort. She should be proud. She should be proud of her parents – because their hard work, this was possible for the other children. And she should know better that her father and mother would always watch over her, somewhere, somehow; exactly like the parents she once had, who died protecting her afar from all harm.

Yuna smiled. She knew that she was blessed to be given a second chance to live her life. She would live the life the way she promised her papa she would.

She walked through the academy training ground and arrived at the river bank. She discovered this place recently. She liked it here **-**it was quiet, peaceful, and full of materials that she could use for life drawing. Liveliness of a new beginning chased the bitter season away. There would be no more small birds dying because of the unbearable cold. There would be no more bloody and torn bodies lying around, numb and stone-cold. The fervent season engrossed senses of death and destruction from within and turned all pessimism to feelings of revival. The hard snow had melted and birds began to sing their hopeful song as they welcomed the returning of spring after its winter slumber.

It was too good a day to be constructive.

Yuna found herself stopping by a drier yard of lawn amid the vast growing green, a space where it was filled with flower buds that were yet to bloom; she decided to lay down and free herself from thoughts. She was making herself comfy, using her school bag as her pillow; also, her hair would be cleaner this way. Where the girl rested peacefully, the fragrant of grass lingered in her nose and the sun shined gently and warmly upon her. It would be perfect, if only, there weren't someone nearby disturbing the tranquillity by practising ninjutsu. To be more specific, someone was practising techniques of fire release.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu."

The calm flow of river was agitated and the clear liquid bubbled heatedly at the surface contact with the giant orb of burning flame. She was there first. The blunette just wished that this somebody had gone somewhere else to perfect his technique. With annoyance, she got up and made her way to where the fire was made. She saw the back of that Uchiha classmate of hers.

"Itachi-san, would you mind practising elsewhere?" Yuna found her deskmate facing the river. When he turned, she saw the boy was covered in sweat, his mouth had traces of blood, and she could also faintly make out the blisters forming at the edge of his lips and around his fingertips. To see how hard-working he was while she was relaxing, she felt bad to have asked. Before he could reply to that, she spoke again.

"The so-called genius is someone who puts a lot more effort into what he does than other people. People always see the brilliant result, but they too always neglect the amount of sweat and blood shed that has gone into the process to achieve it." Yuna had an ambiguous idea of how he could be so strong at his age, but she never knew just exactly how hard he had been working to obtain his strength.

Itachi blanked at that comment. He was taken by surprise. Pulling himself together, he then responded with a dim smile to her most complimentary remark.

"You're the first to understand me so well."

"Because you and I both know," Yuna turned away from him, laughed inwardly to herself, "that there's no shortcut."

By the time she turned to face him again, he was gone. When she discovered that she was alone, she made her way back to her belongings. Yawning and rubbing her eyes, she dozed back to her afternoon repose.

In a drowsy state of half-sleep, Yuna picked up rattling noises, buzzing around in the bushes. She forced herself awake alertly – someone was behind the trees. Then, a shadow rapidly moved and hid again. Acting on self-protection, she promptly took out a kunai from her tool bag and threw it at the first tree of the bunch. At a tremendous speed, the kunai pierced straight through that tree and broke it into two halves.

A play age child with raven hair and black eyes cried out loud in fear. Obviously, he was petrified by that kunai's throw.

"Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The little boy shrieked from the top of his lungs. Yuna wanted to apologise for her misunderstanding, but she did not know what to do with a crying child, as she never really was one herself. The raven haired boy who sat next to her in class suddenly appeared. Looking at the detached trunk of a tree and the kunai laying not so far away, Itachi had a good guess of what made the little boy wailed that desperately.

"Itachi-niisan, that nee-san is scary. I want to go home. I don't want to play anymore." The boy hid before her classmate, seeking safety and comfort from his aniki.

"How could you, Yuna-san? You nearly killed him with that throw. What do you want of him?" Itachi was angry. She threw that kunai with wind element chakra,intending for it to be such a fatal blow. No one shall touch a hair of his family**;**he would show no mercy.

Yuna tensed up and that anxiety soon turned into wrath. She hated to be accused, especially of ill-will, which drew relation between her and that man. She never wanted to be compared with him ever. So, instead of apologising, Yuna argued back.

"What? You're being unreasonable. He crept on me. I only reacted naturally as any shinobi would."

"No,_you're_being unreasonable. Why would a four-year-old child want to do anything bad to anyone? More importantly, how can a four-year-old do any real harm to anyone?"

"Oh please. Age has no correlation to one's ability, and rule number one: never underestimate your enemy." Yuna rolled her eyes when she stated the obvious, because she well knew that Itachi and she were great examples for illustration.

"Toshiro is no enemy to anyone." Itachi fired back.

"It's not wrong to be a bit more cautious." Yuna tried her best to say it as calmly as she could, pretending it was no big deal, although she knew deep down that she was wrong: Itachi was raging.

"That's just ridiculous! You can't always get your way round everything just because you're the Hokage's daughter. Just because you practically live your life like a princess doesn't mean you can treat others like dirt." Fury flooded his mind and anger dictated his tongue. He did not realise what came out his mouth.

"How dare are you drag papa into this? And what do you know about me to say such things? You better apologise before I do otherwise. Now!" Yuna was almost screaming by this point.

"Why don't you try to demonstrate 'how to apologise' first, _hime-sama_?" Full of sarcasm and smear, Itachi made use of his extensive imagery in his livid retort.

"That's it, Uchiha! You've crossed the bottom line." Yuna held a kunai in her left hand and got into battle stances.

"Most certainly, your highness. If that's the way you want to settle things, I am more than happy to comply." He further drew parallel of her to a rampage royal figure, who would be inferior of others, regardless of the situation. His eyes inflamed the moment he drew his own kunai from his pocket, while he gestured the younger Uchiha to flee from the battlefield.

As soon as the little boy left, they clashed into each other with kunai at top speed. Yuna knew she stood no chance in a pure power match with him, she needed to break free. Just then, Itachi saw her hand going through her tool bag, he thought she was about to use some sort of seal tag. He did not know what the seal was, but he could not afford to let himself be caught in a seal. He decided to knee his opponent in the stomach to separate from her and with the possibility of injuring her. Yuna made use of his movement of kneeing up to spring herself up high, taking her kunai in her mouth, she landed on hand stand on his shoulders, then she attempted to toss him over with the help of gravity and amplify the force by adding her own chakra. The moment Itachi was flipped in mid-air, he took a quick glance at her chakra flow and read her next movement before landing securely on foot onto the nearest tree, hanging upside-down like a bat.

_She is good. This is all just taijutsu so far._

To test out her weakness, Itachi fell back onto one of his most confident techniques: shurikenjutsu. He threw shuriken in various directions to see how she would dodge and what she could not do. Yuna could not afford for him to find out her blind spots. She knew his accuracy surpassed hers and she remembered from practical class that he never missed. She would surely be done for if she let him get even close her weakness.

_He's fast in many ways. I better raise the game._

"Fūton: Kiryū Ranbu. (Wind Style: Air Current Dance)" Yuna blew away the incoming weapons. Since she would not give him any idea of what she was not capable of, he could only work with what he had in front of him. Little did Yuna knew, those shuriken were also used as a distraction as well as to find what her weakness was. As the current of wind she just made still dawdled in the air, Itachi took his chance and turned it in his favour – he used it to strengthen his fire attack. He was making hand signs; she prepared for the worst and stepped into the river.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu." It was a lot more powerful than she anticipated it. It was made with plenty more chakra than when he practiced it and the wind release technique she employed to deflect his shuriken backfired her in the worst possible way. She was so glad that she was on a river, where there was almost infinite water supply for her to use, in comparison to the fire he could make with his chakra.

"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu." The water dragon extinguished the giant fire ball with ease. The reason was simple: fire was weak against water, unless the fire was strong enough to heat the liquid beyond boiling and evaporate it. With nature on herside, Itachi would stand a lesser chance of winning. They had to continue this fight somewhere else, somewhere dry, no source of water. The instant the fire ball disappeared, Itachi used body flicker, appeared and attacked from behind. He kept pushing her out of the forest, back to the academy training ground, where the ground was made of minerals and there was no big reservoir of water to seen anywhere close by. By the time Yuna realised they had change venue of their fight, Itachi had gained a massive upper hand in terms of the surroundings. She knew it was useless and self-destructive to use any more wind techniques that she knew of. By elemental elimination, she knew her wind would be weak against him, but her water would be stronger than his fire. The only problem was that it required a lot of chakra to make water of out nowhere – it would be ineffective use of her chakra. Yuna could not make another mistake – the next one she was tomake would also be the end of her.

_She is very good to_ _be able to force me this far._

"Katon: Karyū Endan." He spat fire in a dragon form this time, the counterpart of the water technique she used not so long ago. His chakra was kneaded skilfully and the flame was manipulated assumingly the precise way he wanted to. The ground was burnt and the surroundings were turning charcoal as it protested its damage to the dragon in the boy's control. The dragon chased her restlessly**;**she could not run faster than that _thing _andhad to do something. Yuna stopped and held her hands together**;**she concentrated and focused her mind. Ice appeared before her and shielded her from the tough blaze and**, **eventually, Itachi had to stop the fire dragon flame bullet technique. The ice was melting, although slowly, but he was using too much of his chakra. He changed his approach again.

He used an explosive tag to break the pre-heated and now shattering ice shield she made. When the ice's crack resounded for one last time, Yuna broke out and attacked him from the front. She charged directly at him, then swiftly twisted her body in a certain angle in order to cut him with her poisoned kunai. Yuna knew better to use wind technique against him, but she realised that she could use wind to boost up her own speed.

She succeeded. He was now poisoned with nectar of Manda's deadly jaw. He'd better do something fast if he did not want to die a painful death at such a young age. Itachi stopped the poison from travelling any further in his body by hastily sealing the cuts through burning. Yuna was surprised by his razor-sharp thinking, but this was no time to be impressed.

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu."

Yuna was unprepared for the sudden outburst. She was running low in chakra and she was getting too worn-out. She tried her best to dodge everything thrown at her. Unfortunately, despite her best effort, some fragments of fire had caught her and she was burning in pain as she was now too exhausted to continue battling. The next thing she knew, she was pinned down on the ground with kunai up her throat.

Merely an inch away from her, Itachi immobilised Yuna, weighing himself on top of her. He restrained her arms and legs by holding them down with his own firmly, while he had a kunai positioned closely by her delicate neck and glared at her with his all-seeing sharingan. She closed her eyes, preparing for what was coming. When his victory was affirmed, he could think coolly at last. He was stunned. He did not see a spoiled 'princess' full of arrogance; he saw a helpless girl lying flat and exposed, with her long plaited hair half-loosened by the intensive combats, the long blue strands scattered messily against the bumping ground.

Revelation struck him…Maybe, she was acting on self-defence and it was only an accident. However, there was this immense difference between a normal girl and her: Yuna was considered quite powerful regardless of her age, and that contributed greatly to his misunderstanding on her run-in with his cousin. His enflamed gaze relaxed and turned back to black. He slightly loosened his grip on her, but not enough for her to fight back, which could theoretically lead to another round.

A voice broke in.

"Children, I hope what you're doing is only training. You have done very well. Now, go home and take a well-deserved rest." The Third was speaking in his standard serious voice, though inside of him was seriously concerned about what actually happened. He was still living in the Hokage mansion – it was located very closely by the academy– while the Namikaze family was still living in the house they were living before Minato became Hokage. He could visibly see flame flying round the academy's training ground; he wondered what was going on. When he looked closer at the wrecked state of the training ground by the window, he decided to go and check what was happening. He did not expect to find this mess to be caused by two academy students.

The Third found the two youngsters in the severely damaged training ground, drained out on a clashing battle. He just had to hope that they were training extra on their own because the academy's course was too easy for their liking, and by chance, it went too far accidentally. He did not want to concern himself or interfere with the emotional content that was involved in the whole fiasco. He wanted them to sort it out themselves, as part of their learning process. He thought and understood from their parents' point of view that attending the academy had a very different purpose for those two to the rest of the students – it was a place for them to learn how to get along with other people, through experiencing the 'real life situations' themselves.

He hurried them back, sendingtwo of his ANBU guards to follow Itachi home to make sure that everything was alright; he also sent another one to contact the silver-haired ANBU, to get him onto Yuna's case.

* * *

It was another dull day in ANBU with silly missions; considering it was ANBU, finding herbs for making medicine was not exactly that challenging and was rather substantial. He needed some excitement in life, Kakashi thought. Then, it became too exciting for him.

The Third's personal guard contacted him urgently about a matter concerning Yuna.

_Oh goodie, what has she done now?_

Minato-sensei was busy preparing a treaty with Sunagakure, both the Third and Kakashi thought it was best to let him know later than to distract him for now; Kushina-senpai would be worried sick and overact if she was notified; he was free, available and doing nothing important for the time being. Okay, it was time for him to man up.

After being notified, Kakashi immediately dealt with the stormed training ground and the reduced to ash vegetation by asking – well, more like bullying – his kōhai, Tenzou, into helping to shape up the training ground and nearby surrounding, along with the Third's right-hand men with the time limit at latest by next dawn. He knew that the wood user would be of great help and speed up the plantation process exponentially. After that, he used his summons to track the girl in question within five minutes as soon as he had organised the cleaning team and they were well under way into the regeneration operation.

The silver-haired teen walked up to her from behind. Catching up to her steps, he acted as if it was another day that he would meet her on street and walk home together with her. Then, he began a conversation, casually.

"Wow, I'm impressed. Who in the world has the ability to beat our dearest Yuna-chan to this state?" He could see how intense the battle must have been. The last time he recalled seeing Yuna like this was when Orochimaru was feeling a bit more sadist than usual and trained her _a bit_too hard. He was putting a good act as if he knew nothing of the accident between the Uchiha boy and her.

Irritated by his nosiness, Yuna bit back. "Shut up. It's none of your concern."

"Oh, but it is and I certainly wouldn't say that's none of my concern. Because, believe it or not, I care about your well-being and I have responsibilities to watch over you." Kakashi responded factually.

"As I said, _shut up, _Hatake. I'm not in a mood for your jokes." She sped up in an attemptto lose him.

"Oh, I know, it must've been the young heir of Uchiha. Tsk tsk tsk, you should know better to pick a fight with someone stronger than you if you want to win." Pretending that he just got it, he somewhat managed to sound surprisingly surprised. Yuna stopped walking as a reaction to his _realisation_.

"Yeah, you can talk for someone who breaks into people's home for a free meal, five days out of seven a week."

"Hey, that's not related to this and Minato-sensei would never leave his only and favourite student out there in the street and die in hunger. By the way, I don't break into the house. I've got a key, remember?" Light-heartedly, he reminded her.

"Yeah, you're the only left, of course, you're the favourite student. There isn't another choice, is there? And, are you now saying that they don't pay you enough in ANBU? Go complain to papa and stop meddling into mybusiness!"

"That's just mean, Yuna. I know you're angry, but I'm just here, trying to help. And can I just say…I'm saving up to buy myself an apartment, so, of course, I have to save up big time. Every little helps. Besides, Kushina-senpai's cooking is amazing!" Putting her angry outburst aside, he calmly and patiently listened to her, if she was willing to speak. He changed his solemn tone and spoke in a goofy developing-badass-baritone-voice when he included a joke (which was essentially a fact) to lighten up the moods.

Yuna slammed the front door on Kakashi's face; consequently, Kakashi had to take out his key to reopen the door for him to enter the house.

* * *

GOLDEN RATIO IN FANFICTION:-

**More review****s****= Quicker update****s**

If you happen to come across any plot holes in the story, challenge me. But if you are wondering about Itachi's age, here's your answer -he's about three to four years older than the original. This is one of the few adaptations I make as I genuinely don't believe anyone, even Itachi, the impossible man, can ever accomplish that many things in life and died at the age of 21; not even in the anime world, a place where all the impossibilities seem possible!

Fact: according to the original, Itachi killed his clan and his lover at 14.

Now, can someone answer me...HOW COULD ANYONE HAVE A LOVER AT 14?

Loves,

Athrna :)


	15. Rivalry and friendship

**Chapter 15 – Rivalry and friendship**

The girls were gossiping, the boys were comparing their latest edition of card monsters, and the loners, bookworms and geeks alike were in their seat doing their own thing. It was a normal school day. However, for one person in particular, no, maybe two, it was not such a normal school day. The classroom was unusually noisy today, thought Yuna. She was not in the mood for any noise. Fellow classmates walked past her, greeting her with a friendly 'good morning'; she replied concisely, without any more formalities than necessary and hurried away. She did not want to spare any additional attention to anyone, let alone be bothered by them, while she was trying to deal with the pain of those burns.

_Why can't they be quieter? Just for one day!_

Yuna trudged through puddles of people and sat in her seat. She took her sketch book, began doodling, and attempted to free herself from the stinging sensation of the blisters on her arms. Her injuries were doing a lot better than last night. Visually, the burn marks were almost gone and she now only had to bear one third of the pain she'd dealt with yesterday. The Hyuga's secret ointment had its credit in Yuna's rapid recovery, but her own sanity took the rest of the credit for pulling herself together and got her through dinner last night in front of her parents, next to silver-head, who was essentially a blabber-mouth. Pretending that it was just another school day and that nothing really happened turned out to be easier than Yuna thought. She was surprised that Kakashi did not bring up the fight in front of her overprotective parents. She was even more surprised that he voluntarily helped her with her injuries before dinner. He discreetly took out the miraculous ointment from the medicine cabinet, prepared any necessaries with his ANBU efficiency and did exactly what Minato and Kushina would have done when Yuna used to come back home from Orochimaru's training. Likewise, it was he who suggested to stay out sight by going into her room and reminded her to keep quiet about it.

"Hold it in, okay? I'll try to be quick," Kakashi warned Yuna before proceeding to clean her wounds. He handed her a bag of ice for her to put on her burning skin. Yuna whimpered soundlessly, and Kakashi sighed deeply but did not give satirical comments. It was not the right time; he would rather have her listening to him and get those injuries out of the way, but he saved them for later, when she would be in better moods. He then wrapped her cuts and put cream on the area where the skin had cooled down.

Fraternally, Kakashi ordered the little girl to look after herself. "Done. Go to the hospital if it gets worse, and be sensible. Don't do anything stupid and I'm not saying you're stupid and you know what I mean. Understood?" He would do his best to take care of her, but he knew that there was only so much he could do and it was never enough, especially when she decided to pick a fight with the prodigy of the Uchiha. Yuna nodded and smiled her thanks; Kakashi silently accepted her gratitude.

Really, he was too nice to be Kakashi! Yuna could not quite understand his uncharacteristic actions.

When Yuna was dwelling back upon the event that happened before dinner last night, doubting the possibility of a trap about the unusual kindness displayed by Kakashi, Itachi greeted her politely. Yuna did not even bother with replying. She ignored him completely. Yes, she was still fuming about the fight, and the pain of her injuries just had to remind her every second that she lost. Yes, she still couldn't get over the fact that she, an honourable ex-student of one of the legendary sannin, lost in a fight to another person her age. Yes, she was still very much angry about the things he had said about her, without really knowing what was going on and without really knowing her.

Itachi took a two minutes gap, waited in silence, then he spoke again.

"Um… excuse me, Yuna-san. Would you spare a moment please?" Itachi tested the water. He did not want the situation to get worse than what it was already. He realised his faults and he wanted to make it up for the both of them. Yuna was annoyed. How dared was he to speak to her at all after what he'd done?

"Speak up, Uchiha. I don't have time to waste on you." Yuna glared back coldly.

Itachi exhaled downright and took in a big breath. He calmly and sincerely regretted his wrong doings.

"Firstly, I'd like to apologise for jumping to conclusions yesterday. I shouldn't have made judgements of you without really knowing you and I shouldn't have undoubtedly directed the accident's cause on your behalf. Secondly, I'd like to apologise for hurting you badly in the fight. It was very un-gentlemanly of me to do so, as I was told off by mum. Thirdly, I'd like to offer you this gift as a compensation of what I've done to you, in the hope that you'll accept my apology and we'll become friends once again." Bowing towards Yuna, Itachi handed her a lavishly-wrapped present.

She wasn't expecting that. She stood unmoving and took a moment to think before she replied.

Yuna stuttered out her confession before taking the box from his hands. "I…wasn't expecting that. I… was wrong to have thrown that kunai…in the first place and I did in fact s-say things that shouldn't have been said… I'm sorry for scaring your brother as well."

Itachi smiled thankfully."Thank you. By the way, Toshiro's not my brother. He's my cousin, but we're quite close because his mother died after his birth and his father's always busy with work."

"Oh, I see. And, by the way, we weren't really friends anyway. We're more like academic buddies." Yuna accidentally made the situation awkward again, without realising it at first. When she did, she suddenly felt uncomfortable.

"Maybe, but…we can start now…?"

"Y-yeah, I suppose so."

"Oh, feel free to open the gift. I hope you'll like it."

Yuna opened the box and stared in awe. It was a complete set of brand new tsukesage kimono with matching-coloured zori sandals. Below the waist on the kimono, there was the beauty weeping cherry blossom pattern in six parts, printed against the lavender silk. An obi belt of pink flowers could also be found in the extravagant present.

"That is so pretty! Thank you so much. It must've cost you a lot. You shouldn't have. But why a kimono?" Yuna touched the smooth fabric and admired it in amazement. After all, she was a girl. It was normal for girls to like at least some types of pretty clothing, and Yuna was no exception.

"I told my mother about the fight when she saw my cuts. When I decided to apologise, my mother suggested for me to buy a gift. I remembered and mentioned that your birthday is coming and she suggested that it would be nice if you have something nice to wear on your birthday."

"But seriously, it looks expensive! I mean, it's not like I don't have any of these things, but still, that's too kind of you."

"I'm glad you like it, then."

"I love it. Thank you so much."

Itachi's smile grew wider to that. He felt as if something heavy had been lifted from his chest.

"Oh. In return, here's the antidote for the poison. This is for my apology and thanks to your gift. I'll clean your cuts before applying it for you." Yuna put down her present carefully on the table and then she fetched up a small bottle from her tool bag. She offered the boy the cure and her help.

"It's fine. I can do it myself. Thank you for your offer." Itachi took the antidote from her hand and he was about to sit down, until the teacher's lesson began.

"No, I insist. Okay? I was taught some basic medic ninjutsu and I am a water release user. I can easily clean them for you and I feel bad for the pain you felt when you were sleeping last night, if you had any sleep at all, that is. DON'T SIT DOWN! I put superglue on your seat…."

Itachi froze, and his face blankened. All words had escaped him.

* * *

It was lunch time and it was sunny outside. Most of girls decided to eat out together and Yuna joined them like she would normally have if she was in a good mood. Yuna was packing away her books when she was asked:

"Is it just me, or have you recently been procrastinating less, Yuna-san?" Itachi was wondering, because he could see a considerable difference in effort Yuna put in class after the fight, as he had not been covering for her since yesterday.

Yuna did not expect to be asked a question like that. "Yes, I am. Any problem with that, Itachi-kun?"

"No. Though I'm curious what made you change?" Itachi wanted to confirm his theory.

"I don't like losing. I'm determined to get better results than you. You know, you can call my name without the honorific. We're friends." She honestly admitted her competitiveness.

"Yeah, but what happens if we both get 100%?" which was highly probable, and it had already happened before.

She pouted, sounding rather disappointed. "Too bad. That's just worst-case scenario for me then."

"Are you sure we're friends, and not rivals? Also, if I call you by your given name, you might as well drop the '–kun' when you call me." He was trying so hard to hide his amusement.

"Yes, we are friends and rivals. Friends are supposed to help each other and you can help me to improve by being my rival, giving me pressure and motivation to work hard."

Itachi gave up and chuckled to himself.

"What's so funny?" Although his giggle had been barely audible to himself, Yuna's keen ears picked it up rather well. The girl had a very serious facial expression; the poor boy could not help himself. He gradually turned his titter into a light laughter.

"You look cute when you're serious and determined. You look like a baby asking for a plush toy."

Yuna's cheeks reddened at the amiable comparison. Meanwhile, she was coming up with a comeback that would even make Gama-jisan _proud_, without her knowing why. Yuna had said so herself that she did not like losing in any way.

"Well, that's very cute of you to compliment me." It was now Itachi's turn to blush. "But then, of course, I'm cuter." Yuna flattered herself and waved her left hand up and down dismissively as she spoke. She just had to do it for the win. Having figured out Yuna's game, Itachi went along with it. He would not want a commotion so soon in their newfound friendship.

"Of course you are, hime-sama."

Yuna made a face at him before leaving him for the girls and joining them for lunch. She knew he was teasing her. For some unknown reason, she didn't mind; in fact, she enjoyed it.

The class teacher who was making rounds of the classroom overheard the conversation between the two students. There was only one saddening thought going through his mind.

_Ah…. Children these day, they grow up too fast._

* * *

Yuna went out on Saturday. She brought snacks and anything she saw in sight that she felt like, with the allowance given by her dear father. Her pocket money was given to her each week and the amount was the equivalent of a genin's earning. That was quite a lot of money for a six-year-old child to spend. So, when the girls and Yuna were eating out, Yuna generously paid. Her friends were happy, and Yuna was happy, as long as they were all happy.

As Yuna's friends were all older than her, some of them even being in their teenage years, they looked after Yuna when they went out together. They went shopping, eating, and more shopping. Kushina felt less uneasy to have older girls watching over Yuna; she understood that things could get rough just because she was the Hokage's daughter and _other things_ as well. It wasn't like Kushina doubted Yuna's ability to defend herself from physical dangers that were in Konoha and it could only be so dangerous with the Hokage in the village, who happened to be her husband and the father of their child, on top of being the leader of the village. She was more worried about the social side of things; she tried to repeatedly convince herself that her baby Yuna had to go through this on her own, because Yuna could only learn her lesson correctly this way. Despite her effort, Kushina worried a lot. Kakashi would usually collect Yuna after her day out and take her home since he was going to have dinner with the Namikaze anyway. That, however, created a problem for Kakashi with Yuna's older friends.

One time, Kakashi did not wear his ANBU attire and his masks because it was his day off. He went out and collected the young girl in his casual clothing. It was a mistake. He ended up having to deal with younger girls fancying him. It wasn't a pleasant experience, and that was when he decided to always at least wear his base mask. Things would be much simpler this way – Those girls would only see that he was an ANBU ordered by the Hokage to look after his daughter personally, not some onii-san they could get their hands on.

"I thought you _liked_ girls."

"Not those who are a lot younger than me."

"They're only two years younger than you."

"That's a lot, considering I'm only 14."

Just then, Yuna spotted her friend on the street with his cousin. It was a chance for her to apologise for scaring him. She opened a packet of sweets she bought and ran in their direction. Hearing footsteps behind him, Itachi turned and greeted her warmly.

"Hi, Yuna."

"Hi, Itachi," she greeted back, then quickly focused on the younger boy.

"Here, have some sweets, Toshiro-kun. I'm sorry for…." Yuna smiled midsentence, trying to make up with the toddler. The young boy's eyes widened in realisation. He ran away in tears.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! "

Itachi was scratching his head. "Sorry about that. See you on Monday." He gave an embarrassed smile before running after his cousin. Yuna stood still at the same spot. Wind was blowing behind her, while she clutched the bag of sweets in her hands. When Kakashi walked up to her, he found her motionless. Naturally, he figured out what happened.

Kakashi was very amused. "You see, not everyone can stand your daunting presence, Yuna-chan. For future reference, you might want to learn how to present yourself as a loveable person."

"Shut up, Hatake. I don't need you to tell me what to do."

"See? That's exactly what I mean. Please tell me you're not going to have kids, 'cause I'm seriously worried about their upbringing." Kakashi was about to crack himself up.

"Vice-versa. My word, can you imagine a five-year-old kid reading porno? I can! Yours!" Yuna fiercely retorted.

"That's just low, Yuna-chan. Icha-Icha is not porn. It's literature at its very best! It's romantic comedy!"

"Yeah, a romance comedy that has far too many graphic descriptions. Plus, are you denying that you don't have other books in your collection of that genre?"

Kakashi couldn't think of what to say to this.


	16. Class Observation Day

**Chapter 16 – Class Observation Day**

If parent day was bad, class observation day was much, much worse.

Everyone in the academy was exceptionally attentive in class today. Today was that day when parents received permission to watch their children studying in school. As for the two graduating classes, they had a personal inspection from the Hokage himself. In other words, it was a double-classroom observation day for our new Hokage: He was observing the graduating students as the headmaster of the academy, as well as a parent. It was very unfortunate, as Yuna put it. She hated to admit it, but sometimes she really wished that her father was some commoner and not the big guy who always had to lead and act tough.

The first lesson in the morning was practical. It was a joint lesson with the two graduating classes. Students were put into pairs according to their level of combat skills. Two students fought against each other, while the others observed and commented after the five-minute match. The students learned from other people's merits and demerits. It was a great opportunity for the children to demonstrate their skills to their parents; but it was also a horse-race for the parents to see whose child was the best out there.

After an hour and a half session, there was the fight before break time. The second last intense battle between the Hyuuga boy from class A and the Nara girl from class B built up tension for the final match of the morning. Hyuga Tokuma used his clan's taijutsu to go head to head with Nara Yuriko's wits. Yuriko kept a reasonable distance with her opponent and Tokuma could only rely on his accurate throwing. As Yuriko's skill in aiming was lesser than the Hyuga, the gap she created between them was getting shorter. Luckily, time limit saved her from getting hit by Tokuma's gentle fist too badly. The audience was impressed by the young Hyuga's clear vision at his age and the girl's courage to stand up against him. After that, there was the match that everyone was anticipating —

Uchiha Itachi versus Namikaze Yuna.

The two children's parents were intrigued by their abilities as much as the other parents were. Truthfully, every parent wanted to see just how capable were the Uchiha heir and the Hokage's daughter in comparison to their own children. Plus, they wanted a good show.

However, the two participants had other things in mind. Both Itachi and Yuna did not think it was wise to fight with their full potential within five minutes – It simply wouldn't work, as they both couldn't display all their abilities within the short time limit, and it would be quite inconvenient for the spectators around. There would be too much damage and they did not want any more attention than they were getting. The parents were murmuring in the crowd and predicting the victor. It was embarrassing.

With that, Chiba-sensei announced their names. Itachi and Yuna stepped forward, shook hands and stood still facing each other.

"On my count, 3,2,1. You may begin." The teacher called out to signify the start of the match.

"No blind spots."

"No seal tags."

"No fire dragon."

"No ice."

"Deal."

"Deal."

Speaking quietly to themselves, the two made a compromise after the starting signal. Everyone looked at them was curious about what was going on. The two smiled and both disappeared simultaneously in a puff of smoke. A few seconds later, a clash was heard. Itachi and Yuna appeared again at mid-air, and then landed on ground holding kunai against each other.

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!"

Itachi broke away from Yuna and used the valley of fire balls to distract her. Yuna knew that he was better than to use that technique on her solely and directly. There must be something else.

"Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Style: Water Trumpet)!"

Yuna distinguished the fire with a jet of water launching from her mouth, and she saw what she expected. There were shuriken concealed in the fire. It was too late to deflect them with her own weapons, and any wind technique would only give him an advantage. Instead, Yuna fended off the incomings with the kunai in her hand. Before she could figure out she would do next, there was another engulfing globe of fire coming her way. Itachi surely was getting too good at his fire ball jutsu.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

_Not again. Argh, there's no water nearby! Oh well, what must be done has to be done!_ thought Yuna in distress. "Suiton: Suijinheki (Water Style: Water Wall)!"

Yuna knew that if she used the water dragon, the area of protection would be smaller, although she could attack with the technique as well. She would not risk any chances with Itachi, as she learned to play safe with him. Nonetheless, using two advanced water techniques with no water source consecutively was very stamina-draining, even for a well-trained jonin; in fact, most people could not make water out of nothing. Yuna was getting tired, but she had to carry on. She would not give shame to her papa and mama; she knew her friend would want to make his family proud too.

Itachi sneaked up from behind, just like before, although this time Yuna had anticipated it. Taking a kunai in her hand, she prepared to block his physical attack. _Clash!_ The two met again in the middle, thrusting their kunai against each other. Itachi was overpowering her, forcing Yuna closer to the ground. At this point, she was too much at risk of losing. She was left open to be attacked. Thinking fast, Yuna raised her forearms in front of her face as a guard, while Itachi discarded his kunai into the nearest wall, and he pushed Yuna's shoulders bare-handed. She landed on her butt.

"Time's up!"

Yuna had just been about to counter-attack with a low kick on the ground when the teacher had shouted it. They both froze. The eyes of parents were wide open at what they had just seen transpire, and they couldn't believe a second of it. The two children were had put such a high chunnin-level fight right before them. But then, he was a prodigy of the Uchiha, and she was the Hokage's daughter. Deep down, they were not that surprised. Just a bit.

The students cheered for their fight and the parents of those two just smiled in acknowledgement, except Fugaku, who did his best to show his acknowledgement by uttering a simple "hn". That was good enough for Itachi.

Yuna, still on the ground, grimaced from the pain in her sore bottom. Luckily, Itachi outstretched a hand for her to take, and she accepted it graciously.

"Ouch! My bum hurts. Thanks a lot," Yuna complained.

"Would you rather have me cut you with a kunai instead?" Itachi joked.

She scowled. "No, but you're going to pay for this."

"I'm sorry." He offered a sincere smile, hoping to compensate.

"You should be." Yuna didn't know why she kept pretending to be angry at him. She pulled herself up from the ground and walked away with a displeased face. Itachi only laughed to himself, shaking his head as he walked to his father.

Yuna knew he was going easy on her, but still, her bum _did_ hurt.

* * *

A good break always prepared students for the next lesson. That break, however, could not been classified as a proper one. Yuna was surrounded by the parents of other children. They asked about how she trained and how could she do so well against the Uchiha and how could she manage such demanding techniques as a child. Yuna did not speak to them. She was too tired. Kushina only smiled, nodded, and said "Thank you, and if you'll excuse us, I'd rather have my baby take a well-deserved break before the next lesson." The parents had to walk away with disappointment.

Meanwhile, Minato was busy kage-ing. He walked around to talk to parents about the education the academy was providing. He was making sure they were all satisfied with their child(ren)'s progress. Sooner or later, there were questions aroused in accordance with the fight between Itachi and Yuna. The parents wanted to confirm that it was not necessary to be able perform high-level ninjutsu to pass academy. Minato had a hard time ensuring the parents, without making it sound like he was bragging about his own child, that Yuna and the Uchiha child went through vigorous training to get to the level that they were at right now, and that they had gone above and beyond all their requirements. That was not the point for today. The aim was to let the parents know where their children were at in their own learning curves.

"Every child is different. We cannot compare them in any way. We must understand each and every one of them. I am here to make sure that we are doing our best for your child. We are not here to compare whose child is better. What good would it do to you? What good would it to your child?"

Minato was told by his predecessor to memorise this speech. He was told that it would be very useful to have it up his sleeves. The Third made certain that his successor understood that there would always be parents complaining. It was how the Hokage dealt with them that truly affected future generations of shinobi in the village. The old man had also warned the young Hokage that his job would be even harder, since it was his first time of class observation, while his daughter was also a member of the class. He had to be extra fair and extra just, despite some parents who held shallow beliefs that he would be biased on his own child.

A parent voiced out the unthinkable question: "Hokage-sama, may I ask? If your daughter has been trained at such high level, why has she entered the academy as a student? You can easily pass her as a chunin."

Minato prepared himself with his eyes shut; he breathed in, breathed out, took a short pause. He took his time to think carefully.

With his ever-so-calm expression, which he had difficulty to keep in this new situation he had never encountered before, the blond man made his statement as the Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure and the father of Namikaze Yuna.

"Even though I may carry the title of Hokage, that does not mean that I will make exceptions for my family. Yuna will follow the shinobi system as it is. I will not bend the rules for my child. After all, learning takes different forms. Both my other half and I have agreed that it is important for her to experience school life. I'm sure that goes for Uchiha Itachi as well." After speaking, he almost couldn't believe he made it through so calmly.

_Headache…! This is worse than paperwork._

* * *

The ringing bell saved Minato from any more questioning from eager parents. Children went inside to the classrooms. It was a history lesson, and they were revising about shinobi system in Konoha. Parents were sitting in the back of the classroom and observing everything from behind. Some students felt discomfort to have parents watching them; some felt that they had to do their best in class to impress their parents; others could not care less.

"Can anyone give a summary of the shinobi system in our village?"

_Not again: Chiba-sensei and his admiration for the Hokage._

The purple-haired girl put her hand up and she answered most correctly.

"Shinobi are sorted by ranks. From the regular forces in chronological order, there are academy students, genin, chunin, and jonin. Above us all, there is the kage who leads the village. There is also ANBU and Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai (暗殺戦術特殊部隊). It is an organisation which carries out special high-level missions. The ANBU usually work in teams formed to the requirements of the mission, ensuring maximum success. The shinobi in the ANBU are hand-picked by the Kage, and are chosen for their individual capabilities and special skills. The Iryō-han (医療班) is the supporting side of the shinobi forces. They consist of medical-nin, working behind the scenes to heal sick and injured shinobi, and making sure the organisation's resources are always in peak condition."

"Well done, Yugao, you may sit down. Next, who can tell me about mission distribution?"

The teacher was getting impatient. He never understood what that girl had against him. She just wouldn't listen in his history class. He hated the fact the girl scored top marks, while he could never find the chance to catch her being disrespectful. He knew too well that she was not paying attention to his teaching, despite achieving results with flying colours. Chiba paused and _looked_ at the blue-haired maiden's direction. She had her head down and was concentrating herself on some other thing on her desk. Her pencil in her hand was moving fast. If you didn't know Yuna, you would have thought she was writing notes. She did well to make it seemed like this at least, by not moving around too fast.

Yuna was fully into drawing. She knew what the teacher was trying to get to – making the class and the parents to 'acknowledge' the hard work the Hokage put into the village every day – which she found very uncomfortable. Itachi was trying his best to do well in front of his parents and look out for Yuna at the same time. It was very difficult. She couldn't stand a single bit of it. So she doodled, and Itachi went back to his lifeguard-mode for his friend.

"Psst psst, sensei," Itachi murmured lowly as he looked straight at the board.

She ignored his warning. "I couldn't care less." She continued to doodle, like nothing would happen.

Before Itachi could warn her further, the teacher was facing their way. He was onto her case. Chiba saw Yuna as a prodigy with attitude problems. Itachi gave it one last try: he subtly elbowed Yuna, without being visible to the teacher. The four parents saw through everything. The teacher eyed Minato, asking for his permission. Minato sighed and nodded reluctantly, while the other parents were still confused about the whole situation. The teacher aimed the board rubber to Yuna's forehead. Before it reached, Itachi turned his head to face Yuna and he shook her arm. This time was noticeable.

"Chiba-sensei, I will answer your question." Yuna stood up and caught the rubber in her hand. "All mission distribution goes through the Hokage. The Hokage spends every day sorting out and assigning people to the right tasks in relation to their abilities. To ensure there are minimum mistakes, as some missions are fatal to have the tiniest errors, most documents are sorted by a team of advisers before their final decision by the Hokage, but if it is an S-rank mission, the Hokage works on the cases directly…. Oh, that's not part of the curriculum? Is that enough for you, sensei?" Almost smugly, Yuna threw back the board rubber and it landed right on the teacher's desk. There, she kept standing, smiling sweetly.

"Yes, thank you for your extensive answer. I'm glad you were paying attention." Chiba cursed himself mentally once again. He failed to catch a little girl skiving in his class for the nineteenth time. How unlucky could he get? It had to be in front of her father, Hokage-sama, this time too. He only prayed that the wise leader saw through his daughter's act.

Before sitting back down, Yuna turned back to see Minato, who looked right back at her, implying that she should have behaved better during the lesson. She pouted, sat down, and rested her head on her palm.

* * *

It was finally picnic time. Lunch time seemed too long of a wait to get to. Parents stopped questioning the Hokage with queries regarding his daughter. They had now witnessed that he was a strict parent and that he did not treat his daughter with special conditions. They now believed the words of the Hokage completely without the thought of a doubt, that he was doing his best for every child, not just his child.

Minato saw through the tricks of that teacher. Fortunately, he was never senseless enough to fall into those pitfall traps. To be honest, they were too obvious and too elementary. He understood how Yuna might have felt, but he would not allow her to disrespect her elders. Before he forgot, he mentally reminded himself that he should have a word with Itachi when he was walking to another bunch of parents, who were hungry for the Hokage's attention.

Under a blooming sakura tree, Mikoto, Kushina and Yuna sat together.

"I didn't know you were enrolled in the academy as well, Yuna-chan." Mikoto was amazed to find her here and some other things as well.

"I only joined a month ago," said Yuna.

Mikoto was impressed by her knowledge and skills as a shinobi. "That's great. You're already graduating, like my son."

"I know. I'm so proud of you, Yuna. You caught your sensei's rubber and answered the question. Great going!" Kushina was winking playfully when she congratulated her daughter's achievement.

"You see, mama, only you and I are happy about it. I bet you that papa's going to make a big fuss about it." With that said, Yuna showed her disappointment. She sometimes wished her papa was a bit more like her mama.

"I know, but that's why we love him." Kushina smiled warmly to the girl, reassuring her that it would be fine. She knew only too well that Minato was too soft to stay angry at Yuna for any longer than ten seconds.

"True." Yuna felt less worried. "Ah, Mikoto-obasan, is your son joining us?

"He is. Right now he has gone to use the restroom, but he should be with us shortly." Itachi's voice cut into their conversation as he walked up to the three of them. Yuna stared at him oddly and Itachi looked back with the same eyes. Making his guess, he simpered.

"Can I help, Itachi? Why aren't you with your parents?"

"I am with one of them, although my father went away because of his busy schedule."

"What? I don't see any…"

"Yuna-chan, you don't know Itachi's my son?" Mikoto asked in foremost surprise. She thought she must have known, considering they were good friends and how she was friends with Kushina. Yuna was dumbfounded, while Itachi was grinning. Yuna turned and pointed her index finger at him.

"You never told me!"

"You never asked."

Kushina was laughing. "That's quite hilarious."

Minato had just been returning from his duty when he overheard the bits of the conversation.

"What's hilarious, honey? Oh hi, Itachi," Minato greeted charmingly.

Yuna was getting annoyed. "What? Papa, you know him as well. How come I'm the only who doesn't know the whole… thing?!"

"They visited us on New Year's day. You were out playing," Minato explained.

"But…"

"I saw you twice before. It's just you didn't see me."

"What? How?"

"Once in Minato-jisan and Kushina-obasan's wedding; the other time was when you were playing out in the snow and you were waving to mum."

"How come both times I didn't see you?"

"In the wedding, I walked back to my seat before you could spot me, and so forth when you were playing with snow on New Year day."

"Yet, you never told me."

"Like I said, you never asked."

Minato felt bad for the boy. His daughter was something else; like her mother, she would not stop arguing until she won. He knew it was pointless to let this carried on. He broke in and changed the topic to the one he wanted to talk about.

"Well, it seems you two end being good friends anyway, which is great. However, Itachi, I'd prefer if you stop assisting my daughter to be able to pull off such stunts in class. It's absolutely wonderful that you two worked so well together, but perhaps this is not where you should apply your teamwork." Minato said earnestly.

"I understand, Minato-jisan. I'm sorry for…" Itachi could not find right word for what he did.

"Covering up for her? Don't get him wrong, Itachi-chan. Without a doubt, you're a great friend, which I'm most grateful of." Kushina added to clear smiled her gratitude to the young boy.

Mikoto brought everyone back from the talk. "Well then, everything is sorted." She thought it was best that they got some lunch and rested properly before the lesson started.

They had bento together and chatted about the more light-hearted matters. It had been a while since Yuna had sat down to a decent lunch with her family. She smiled so contently that she did not know she was able to. Then, she remembered their accompanies. It was her chance to thank Mikoto for her kindness.

"Oh, Mikoto-obasan, thank you very much for the kimono. It's beautiful! You shouldn't have," Yuna casually brought up. If she did not thank her now, then she would forget about it later.

Mikoto did not understand what she meant. "What kimono are you talking about, Yuna-chan?"

"Um, mum, Yuna was also the girl who I fought and burned rather badly that time," Itachi confessed.

Kushina was lost. "What fight?"

"I think Kakashi has quite a bit of explaining to do," Minato said with a smile.

It was one of those smiles one would hope to never see on the Yellow Flash of Konoha.


	17. Wish Upon A Dream

A/N: 9 June is _**Itachi**_'s Birthday, which calls for a **double-bill **that week. Don't miss it. ;)

* * *

**Chapter 17 – Wish Upon a Dream**

_What can a father do? That is the question._

Finally, Minato could go to bed. He had just finished the final adjustments to the official document before preparing to send it to Sunagakure first thing tomorrow. Now all he needed was a good night of sleep. Organising the papers into a pile, closing his file, and putting a seal on the document, all was done. He would not have to see that scroll until tomorrow, which was only an hour and ten minutes away. Securing it additionally by putting it into the vault, he turned off the light and walked out of the tidy study. On his way back to his bedroom, he noticed a beam of light through the opening at the foot of a closed door. The source of light came from his daughter's bedroom, he couldn't help being the loving daddy he was to know what his darling little girl was up to.

Scuff. Scuff. Scuff. _Yuna's up drawing_, Minato noted to himself.

He knocked the wooden door twice lightly. "Yuna, it's papa. Can I come in?" He waited patiently outside.

In a clear voice, Yuna answered right back: "Come in. I'm just drawing." She wasn't sleepy. She would not sleep until her papa came to her.

Minato entered her room in his nightwear, consisting of a plain white t-shirt with cotton pyjama trousers in a blue and cream check. He was at home and they were family, anyway. He felt that he needed to be comfy if he wanted to speed up his working progress. Through the bookshelves and shoes cabinet, he arrived and stood behind Yuna's back, who had her drawing spread all over the desk. He leaned over her back to see what she was drawing. It was a family portrait. Their family portrait. Minato was so moved, but he knew she really should be in bed instead, she should have been an hour ago.

"That's great, dear, shouldn't you get some sleep now? You've got your final exams tomorrow," Minato spoke with a gentle smile. Although he knew the graduation exams would be no challenge for his daughter, there was still always the complication of class competition, and she would not be happy with herself if she did not do her best to get the results she expected herself of. He was happy as long as she was happy with herself and would not do anything she might later regret.

"You've got to be kidding me. They are so difficult that I am going to fail no matter what I do for preparation," Yuna said sarcastically.

"Yes, you won't be able to perform your best if you're tired. So, off to bed now. Chop, chop." Minato further insisted in a more authoritative manner. Despite using commands, he maintained gentleness in his voice. Yuna put her sketch book and tools away willingly, while Minato toned down the light.

"Have you brushed your teeth and washed your face yet?" Minato reminded her as he made the young girl's bed. He opened the duvet cover and set the pillow.

"I have, and I am already in my pyjamas. You see, I was more than ready to go to bed, but I was waiting for you, papa. Your turn tonight, remember?" The girl's eyes dimmed and stared back at him, she was looking slightly annoyed. Wednesday night. Of course, it was his turn to read a bedtime story with Yuna. How could he forget that?

"I'm sorry, Yuna. I was caught up in work. It's getting really late now, would you still like one tonight?" Minato offered with a weak smile.

Her mood seemed to change suddenly, and her face brightened. "Yes, please."

Minato tugged her into bed and sat on the sofa opposite her bed. The fabric sofa was densely populated with dolls. To make room for his legs to straighten out without crushing any of his daughter's precious friends, he took in a few plush toys into his arms. Facing Yuna, Minato leaned against two cushions on the side, and then he began.

"What would you like to hear tonight? What would you like to know about 'Neverland'?"

While Kushina told stories of adventure and fairy tale, Minato created this imaginary world and invented stories about it. Neverland was a place that Minato made up. It was a country composed of many islands, each having its own unique traditions. The country's weather was typically cool and the islands were usually covered by mist. He usually talked about the histories, myths and traditions people had in Neverland.

By _pure_ coincidence, it greatly resembled Land of Water.

Minato never told Yuna where this Neverland actually was, and claimed the idea of this imaginary land came from books he had read when he was young. This was not a complete lie, though not entirely truthful either; meanwhile, Yuna knew where exactly he was talking about all along. He would bring himself to tell her where this Neverland actually was in due time and how she was related to it, even though he was sure that by now, Yuna had probably figured out the truth behind the stories already. Minato held on with his principal: her recognition was one thing, his telling was another. He felt that it was his responsibility to tell her.

Even so, Yuna was fascinated by this mysterious land. It was only natural for her to want to know more about her heritage.

Yuna stopped her father before he had selected a story from his mind. "Wait, papa. Before the story, can I tell you something first?"

"Go on."

"Remember how you promised me to grant me a wish if I manage to graduate by April?"

"Yes. Have you thought of what you want already?"

"Yup. And you'll keep your promise, right?"

"Of course, dear."

Yuna explained her wish in determination: "I want mama to be my Jonin-sensei and I want to be in a three-man squad with people I can get on with for a whole day straight."

"Isn't that two wishes you have there?" Minato chuckled.

"Well, yes and no – because I only gave you instructions to make up my ideal team." Yuna grinned at her quirky comeback.

"Hmm… that's new. The Hokage is given orders by a child. Anyway, don't worry about it. I will think of something and you won't be disappointed." Minato usually joked about his daughter's cheekiness when giving her encouragement.

"I won't! Because I know, papa, that you will do exactly what I want." Yuna smiled glowingly, and Minato returned hers with a smile of their shared confidence and support.

He laughed gently at her words. "We'll see, we'll see." He was so pleased to know that she had so much faith in him. If he could, he would never want to disappoint his little girl. He wished for her happiness and joy.

Just then, Minato decided his story of the night.

"Okay, we're going to skip Neverland for one night. Tonight is a fairy tale." This was actually the first time Minato did not talk about Neverland in his bedtime story.

"But you know I am not very keen on fairy tales." Yuna held firm reservation towards the believability of a happily ever after, even for a princess. In fact, Kushina told adventures four out of five nights, because she knew too well that Yuna did not like fairy tales. She saw and understood that Yuna was just like her when she was younger, someone who wanted to believe in them but couldn't. Kushina could only try so hard.

"Trust me, you'll like this one. This one is an original. It's based on people I know," he reassured, and Yuna nodded her head in agreement. He began once more, the second time tonight, for better luck.

"It goes like this..."

_"Many, many years ago, when the world was young, chaos followed everywhere you went. Like a tyrant, war decided the fate of people's lives without giving them any chance in life. In a land where it was protected from the outside harm of the cruel world, far, far away from harm, there lived a princess. She was born into a happy family and a prosperous kingdom. She lived a blissful early childhood. _

_"However, it was all temporary._

_"War hit the peaceful land. The country had to go to war. The king and queen thought that if anything bad should happen to them, at least the princess would live on. They sent their most precious treasure to their ally, where she would be kept safe from harms._

_"With the princess's feeling of unease settling at a new place, hearing the sober news of her fallen country and the death of her parents in a foreign land, she shattered into pieces. She hated being herself. She hated everything. She hated the world. She cried herself to sleep every night, asking herself, why she couldn't be someone else. She became so broken that she began to isolate herself from the rest of the world._

_"But in this foreign land, she was given a second chance to start her life again. The royals of this ally country gave the princess plenty more than what she needed for survival. After all, what more could you ask for if you could survive through wartimes? They gave her a big house to live in with more than enough servants to help her with her needs, they gave her all the money her country had left, and they gave her a chance to live a simple life. She had everything one could wish for in life, but she was not happy._

_"She started to go to school, like other children. The princess had this beautiful long red hair. It was a very rare hair colour in this foreign land, so the other children, mostly boys, laughed at her and gave her the nickname "tomato." She hated it. She hated her own hair, she hated being labelled with that nickname and she hated to be reminded of her origin. She lashed out and pummelled those who teased her._

_"The princess was very strong, even when she was a little girl. She was fierce and she paid back double to those who did wrong to her. Because she thought that if she didn't protect herself, no one else would and no one else would care. Little did she know, there was someone in the class who had been watching her from the start. From the corner of his sapphire-blue eyes, he took glimpses of her and noted her every move since she made her first step into the classroom._

_"There was this boy in the class. When he saw the 'bad boys' were bullying the princess, he looked out for her. Although the boy was able to help out, he never once helped out when they irritated her. He knew she was more than capable to protect herself from them. He thought it would hurt her more to make her feel useless and vulnerable about herself. But he truly cared about her. He felt sorry for her and he wished he could help. _

_"During their time in school, they never spoke to each other. Sometimes, the two met in the eyes. She'd walk away with an angry 'hmph' and the boy would quickly turn his head when she noticed him staring. The princess thought the boy looked unreliable and girly. She thought lowly of the blond-haired boy as a scaredy cat who knew nothing about anything. On the other hand, the boy was scared of her to a certain degree. As proven, the bad boys were frequently beaten so hard, they sometimes had to see the nurse. It was evident that the princess was someone you would never want to mess with. Soon, she earned herself another nickname – the red hot-blooded habanero._

_"The princess continued to live her life only for the sake of living. But one incident changed that all._

_"It was said that the princess had special power, a very desirable one. A group of evil people had been looking for the princess for years. When they found out where she'd been hiding at long last, they abducted her from the foreign land she now lived in. She was taken away by the evil people for her power to be extracted, for the use of their evil deeds._

_"As they escorted her to their leader, she secretly plucked and left behind strands of her red hair to mark her trail in the hopes that someone would find her. Just when she had given up hopes of anyone would come and save from her from evil - save HER, the outsider! - she was rescued by a young man._

_"He defeated the evil people and saved the princess from danger. But she was too exhausted to walk back. And then, he took her into his arms and made their return._

_" 'How did you find me?'_

_" 'The trail you left. Your beautiful red hair couldn't possibly belong to someone else. Once I saw it, I knew that it was you right away, and that you were in danger.'_

_" 'Why did you come to save me? I thought no one would care if I'm…'_

_" The boy paused. __'...Because I don't want to lose you.'_

_"He was once that wimp of a classmate of hers. Now, she no longer saw him as the pathetic boy the way she used to view him. Instead, she saw him a valiant and handsome young man with the most brilliant blond hair. In twilight, he came to rescue her from evil – her knight in shining armour. _

_"The princess was so moved to know that there was someone else who cared for her. Since then, she started to love her hair and accepted her reality. She began to live her life as a new person, not someone who mourned the tragedy of her anguishing past. They fell in love with each other and eventually got married. The princess was grateful to be given a second chance in her life, and she cherished every second of her life ever since. Her red hair had brought the man of her dreams to her. It was their own 'red thread of fate' (__運命の赤い糸__, unmei no akai ito). The two lived happily ever after and created their own family together."_

Minato smiled from the bottom of his heart as he finished the story with the perfect ending.

"So, tell me, Yuna. What have you learned from this story?" Minato asked, in the hope that she got his message after he had gone through all the trouble to put in enough details and descriptions into the story for her to deduct who the princess was in real life - without spelling it out for her, of course. He hoped Yuna would come to understand that she should never give up hope in her own happy ending.

To let Yuna learn more about her mother, while letting her to see the possibilities in life available for her, he made comparison and drew parallels between the princess in his story and the little girl in bed. Knowing Kushina would have difficulty in coming around and telling Yuna herself, Minato thought Yuna should learn about it sooner rather than later. It would be good for the both of them: Kushina would not be need to be anxious about not letting her daughter know about her past and showing her understanding of the pain Yuna was going through; Yuna would come to understand her mother with a new prospective that she was entitled to have, as a fellow last princess of a country, to strengthen the bond between mother and daughter.

As expected by Minato, Yuna figured it all out being the bright kid she was. She knew who that princess was after listening to the story, only she didn't know her mother had been in her shoes when she was younger. Yuna was so happy for Kushina, as her life turned out like a fairy tale – Prince Charming saved the beautiful Princess from misery. Minato and Kushina loved each other very much and raised Yuna as their own daughter. The three of them lived most fortunately and happily together as a family. In her half-asleep state, Yuna took her time before she replied, she was unsure of how to answer her father's question.

"There's someone for everyone?"

"Yes, anything else?"

"I d-don't know, P-papa. But I think it's a lovely story, and for once, I believe in a fairy tale."

Minato let out a sigh of happiness. He was so glad he decided to do the Bedtime Story with her. _It's about time_, he thought.

With a smile, Minato further reinforced the idea of a fabulous life after a heart-breaking past. "It's also a fable, Yuna. This story tells us that no matter how bad life gets, even for a princess who lost everything that's precious to her – her family, her home, her kingdom – everyone gets a chance to start their life anew. When one gets the second chance, never let go. One should never give up on the dream of a peaceful life. Everyone deserves to be loved. Like you said, there's at least that special someone for everyone out there."

Yuna dwelled on the fantasy that came true for her mother. She gazed at the man in front of her, the feeling of warmth and hope grew from her heart. Thinking back to the hero, Yuna couldn't help but change her gentle smile to a playful smirk when she gave her response to the moral of the story.

"That's beautiful. Thank you very much for the story. I really like it. Although I must say, that 'knight in shining armour' seems to value his hair as much as you do, papa. He must've shampooed, washed and conditioned his hair like we girls do for his hair to be _that_ shiny," Yuna said teasingly, letting her father know that she knew the truth behind of the story and her appreciation to her father's effort by mocking his habit. She remembered her mother telling her about how girly she thought Minato was when she was young.

"Excuse me, Hime. I love my hair and I am proud of it. I guess we blonds are special that way." Minato knew that his brave attempt at acting mad at her had failed. Before he knew it, he burst into laughter.

"If I have a knight in shining armour, he won't be a blonde," Yuna giggled.

"What's wrong with a blonde knight?" Minato sulked, his voice lowering. He was feeling a bit hurt. Were blonds like him not good enough to be dream men?

With her eyes half-closed, Yuna spoke to clarify herself, covering her mouth as a yawn arose. "No, that's not what I meant, papa. He can't be blond, because you'll forever hold my number-one spot for being my favourite blond man. He'll just have to suck it up and dye his hair if he's blond."

Minato could only smile to that. He got up from the sofa, gave Yuna a kiss on her cheek, and switched off the bedside lamp.

"Well, goodnight, Yuna. Sweet dreams."

In a hypnotising tone, Minato bade her goodnight and chased her nightmares away. Yuna was already dozing off to dreamland at his words. He tugged her in again before he made his way out quietly.

When he soundlessly closed the door, he found his wife standing outside of the room. He smiled.

"Guess how long I've been standing here?"

"Since Yuna suggested to have you as her Jonin sensei." Minato put his arm around her wrist, and gestured to move back to their room. Kushina rested on head on his shoulder.

"You're good," she said seductively.

He lifted his right eye brow suspiciously. "Seriously, honey. What do you make of me?"

"I never said you were 'pathetic'."

Kushina begged to differ. This was a reference back to the story _and_ an answer to his question.

"Well, I had to skip quite a lot of details to get through the whole story quickly. That was the first word came into my mind. She was really getting too tired half-way through, since by that time she should have fallen asleep. But she didn't let herself, because she wanted to know how the story ended."

_Yes and no. You used the word 'unreliable,' which means roughly the same thing as pathetic to me, _Minato mentally told himself. He didn't think voicing out his thought would do him any good at any given time, so he kept it to himself.

"Thank you, Minato, for doing this for me. I really appreciate it." With that said, Kushina pressed her lips onto his. Like a butterfly's touch on skin, the kiss was first light and sweet. As soon as they reached their bedroom, they deepened the kiss into a more passionate one. Minato gently shut the door behind him. She wondered what she would do if she had to live without this man's love. No, she couldn't bring herself to even think about it. They moved towards the bed as the battle of tongue continued.

Desire ignited around them as they became lost in a sea of love. It was a spicy, powerful combination that sent waves of passion crashing over them. The rest of the world was submerged from their lustful burning flames as the kisses grow more urgent and rushed. As their lips parted, a gentle breeze fluttered over the flame, extinguishing the desperate heat. Their breathing came out in short, desperate gasps. The intensity had washed away. The rest of the world was slowly coming back into focus.

Minato came to his senses. "What do you think?" He needed to ask this, so he could start preparing for this year's graduates. He thought Kushina would have read his proposal for Yuna's genin team by now. Kushina caught on. She knew he was talking about her teaching Yuna's genin team. Although she had experience in preparing genin and chunin to take exams, she had never led a genin team before. But she was willing to give it a go, for Yuna.

Kushina put forward the option of combination that she preferred to have in her team. "I don't see why not. I'm happy to teach those two and the other young Uchiha. They don't need much actual teaching anyway. Also, Yuna only listens to very few people out there and you and I happen to be in the small minority." She thought she would have an easier job this way, if they were planning to have a baby any time soon.

"We'd better be. We're her parents," Minato smirked. Just then, Kushina had her sudden mood change. She was frustrated.

"Why do we have to talk about it now? Like right now? You ruined the atmosphere!"

_Oh boy, what did I do? _Minato thought nervously. Blood drained away from his face. He closed his eyes, preparing himself for what was coming.

Silence. Nothing happened.

When he slowly opened his eyes, he saw that one hell of a woman was lying flat on the bed. She looked at him longingly and gestured to him temptingly with her index finger. She bit her lips sensually.

"Come here, big boy," she commanded him in a sultry voice.

_Women are troublesome. Crap! What has gotten into me? I've started to sound like Shikaku. Oh well, this should be stress releasing..._

* * *

_Info for readers:-_

**Red string of fate**

The **red string of fate**, also referred to as the **red thread of destiny**, **red thread of fate**, and other variants, is an East Asian belief originating from Chinese legend and is also used in Japanese legend **(運命の赤い糸, unmei no akai** **ito)**. According to this myth, the gods tie a red cord around the ankles of those that are to meet one another in a certain situation or help each other in a certain way. Often, in Japanese culture, it is thought to be tied around the little finger. According to Chinese legend, the deity in charge of "the red thread" is believed to be Yuè Xià Lǎo (月下老, often abbreviated to "Yuèlǎo" [月老]), the old lunar matchmaker god who is also in charge of marriages.

**Yuna's name**

In chapter 3, there is a mention of the meaning of Yuna's name. It was commented by Kakashi as 'a cliché variation of the name'. Her name is style as 夢奈 (dream). Normally, the name is styled as 優奈 (pretty and beautiful) or 由奈 (gentle heart).

Historically, the Japanese emperor and his families have no surname. Therefore, in my story, Yuna did not have a surname before she was adopted by Minato.

In Kanji, her full name is styled: **波風夢奈** (Namikaze Yuna).


	18. Wish Granted

イタチちゃま! 誕生日おめでとう!

* * *

**Chapter 18 – Wish Granted**

Just as students had a formal entrance ceremony when they entered the academy, they also had a formal ceremony when they left. The graduation ceremony was held in late March. Parents came in their most formal kimono, teachers were more uniformed than ever, and the students wore their shinobi attire for the first time in their lives. Likewise, for the first time in their lives, they were shinobi of Konohagakure as they exited the hall. Non-graduating students had settled in rows in register order and parents found their seats fifteen minutes prior to the start of the ceremony. It was a very solemn event, without the frivolity found in class.

It was the first time the Fourth Hokage attended the graduation ceremony as the headmaster of the academy or as a parent. As the Yondaime who only went in office last September, he did not get to do the opening ceremony. However, he had attended previous academy ceremonies to observe and learn from his predecessor in preparation of becoming the Hokage.

Reading over the graduation speech for the hundredth time, Minato murmured to himself as his eyes tailed the words. He stopped, took a breath and started again. He leaned his head against the wall in front of him and closed his eyes to focus his thoughts.

"Hokage-sama, would you like some tea?"

Minato shot his eyes opened at once and turned to see a maid. "Yes, that'd be good." With his left hand tightly gripping a script of his speech, Minato reached his right hand toward a cup on the tray. He quickly gobbled the liquid down his throat before thanking her with a smile. As soon as she took her leave, he returned to that comforting white wall to seek composure. He took the papers into his mouth and shook off the cold sweat forming in his palms.

"Hokage-sama, the ceremony is about to start."

"Thank you, Raido. Right away." Putting on his personalised haori over his shinobi attire, Minato headed out to the stage with anticipation.

The ceremony began by the graduating students coming in after the honoured guests and the headmaster had taken their seats on stage. The students arrived to their seats in the front rows and remained standing. Then, everyone stood up and sang the national anthem together. After that, the student representative gave an address. He was brave. It was never easy to give a public speech. Hyuuga Tokuma did an excellent job in speaking of his experience as a student at the academy and thanking the teaching they were given on behalf of his class. The boy's calmness in presentation and advanced choice of vocabulary was easy to recognise. Minato showed his recognition to the young boy's hard work by clapping his hands, while giving him an encouraging smile; the boy nodded lightly to show his respect to the Hokage's acknowledgement before returning to his seat.

Then, it was his turn.

Minato got up from his seat. He walked stably towards the speech desk and put the papers on top. To this day, even after the defect of Orochimaru, there were still people around thinking that the Third might have made a mistake to name him the Fourth Hokage. He knew it was his chance to show the people that he was worthy of the title of Hokage – It was the opportunity to earn the older generation's trust and hearts, it was his turn to inspire the younger generation, and it was a day he hoped his daughter would fondly remember. Taking a flash glimpse of the audience, his eyes returned to the woman with the most beautifully straight, long, crimson hair. When her eyes met his with confidence and affection, he knew to take a last look at his script and to begin speaking. He silently cleared his throat, looked up and engaged the audience with poise and began in an uplifting yet collected voice.

"Ladies and gentlemen, respectable Sandaime Hokage-sama, honoured guests, parents, faculty, and members of the academy, it is my privilege to welcome you to this ceremony to celebrate the birth of a new generation. This is a special, important event at Konohagakure.

"With that said, I must admit that when I remember back to my own time in the academy, I don't think often of its ending, or of the ceremony that accompanied that ending. I remember looking up the Hokage Mount when I was a kid. I remember learning about the greatest shinobi that ever lived. I remember the essay I wrote in my third year on Shodaime Hokage and the foundation of Konohagakure. I hoped such a legend would ultimately be mine, but that story had yet to be written. At that moment, I was only a new kid, one who looked up to my seniors, striving forward so one day I could be like them.

"You are graduating now. You are the fully ripe fruits whom the younger children now look up to with great admiration and periodic adulation. Starting from today, you are officially the shinobi of Konohagakure.

"So what does all this have to do with the rest of us?

"Well, today we honour what is for you soon-to-be-graduates a lifetime of missions and achievements. This is a celebration of maturity – not youth. Indeed, we have spent much of our time and you have spent much of yours over the last three years asking for more – more effort, more focus, more choices. In point of fact, we are all partners – yourselves included – in a massive conspiracy designed to help you become a member to the wider community.

"My daughter once asked me, 'What is it like to be the Hokage?' I took my time to ponder on the question, and have come up with the most fitting answer.

"'It feels like I've become a father to thousands of children.'

"When I said this, she didn't seem to understand. I explained to her that it means that I have a lot more responsibilities and must watch over many duplicates of her.

"I always do my best, so I know I am not entitled to regret it later. As a shinobi, I carry out missions using the most efficient and effective methods I can; as a parent, I raise my child the best way and give it all I can; as the Hokage, I try my hardest to keep the village safe and think of the whole country as a big family. We all are responsible for something.

"But are you?

"I don't ask that question in a condescending way. The same one could be directed at me or any of us here. We are, after all, a product of the way we see ourselves and the way we are seen by others. And we have, ironically, only limited control over either. But our actions make assessments that we don't, assessments that affect us in all kinds of ways. We must be ready for anything thrown at us, because we are shinobi. It's an occupational hazard.

"Twenty years ago, I stepped out of this academy and considered myself being more than ready to go into the world. But I was wrong. As I move on in my journey, there are events after events that keep reminding me that I am still learning. Everyone makes mistakes, as do I, who have made quite a few in my life. During my time as a Jonin sensei, I learned a lot of things that I thought I had known. At the beginning, I thought leading a genin team was just leading a team for missions. It turned out that there were more to it. I was supposed to be their guardian and guide them through their lives. In the end, I failed as a teacher. Because of my mistake, my students paid the ultimate price. At first, I regretted about the misfortune and thought useless of myself, despite that everyone, including my wife, repeatedly told me that it was not my fault. I was going nowhere in that state of mind. Eventually, I relearned my lesson the hard way.

"Nobody else is paying as much attention to your failures as you are, so what happens next is more important than what has already happened. To me, that defines the term 'responsibility.'

"So, what exactly is an individual's responsibility towards society? Does the individual have some sort of unwritten contract with society where terms of the contract are decided by the will of the people? Is the individual required to submit his or her own free will to that of the general will? These are the questions that come with asking what our responsibility towards society is.

Before one asks what his or her responsibility towards society is, one should first ask what the responsibility is towards oneself. Do you have a responsibility to survive? Do you have a responsibility to flourish and prosper? Surely, if you truly wish to fulfil some responsibility towards society shouldn't you at the very least ensure your own survival in order to do so? If you are not flourishing and prospering, just how much responsibility of society's can you accept? Accepting responsibility is not at all easy and one can easily look at their own past actions to find many refusals to accept responsibility for their actions. As more and more individuals get comfortable with the idea of refusing to accept responsibility for even their own actions, a society of irresponsible people prevails. What responsibility would one have to an irresponsible society? It is a fallacy to presume that one can accept responsibility towards society. Society does not exist in such a way to facilitate any meaningful end. Accept responsibility for yourself and your actions and accept responsibility for others and their actions, these are the only two possible choices to be made when it comes to accepting responsibility. One can choose one or the other or choose both, but there are no other options outside of those three choices to accept responsibility.

"There are many examples of historical figures and countless unknown shinobi who sacrificed their lives for the 'good of society,' but in each instance the actions defined as 'sacrifice for the good of society' were made by individuals who acted upon their own individual free will. The one who falls upon an exploding tag to protect his fellow comrades from the same death he has accepted is not an action made out of obligation towards society, it is a selfish action made by an individual who had the presence of mind to understand that his life was forfeit the minute the bomb landed in his vicinity and he could stand there and die with his friends or act to save them, minimizing the tragedy of his own death. It is a good and noble action not because it conforms to responsibility towards society, but because it aims to accomplish the greater good. The greatest good to the greatest amount should be anyone's primary goal when accepting responsibility.

"Everyone is bound by responsibilities. There's no escape. What can you do?

"Take action. Every story you've ever connected with, every person you've ever admired, every little thing that you've ever accomplished, is the result of taking action. You have a choice. You can either be a passive victim of circumstance or you can be the active hero of your own life. If you have tried your best, and now there is nothing else you can do to make it better, you have already answered your responsibility. You shall have no regrets in your life.

"Now, you will soon truly begin your life-long marathon. Perhaps all great expression of self is also a manifestation of responsibility – the vitality of human spirit which enables each of us in our own way to grow brighter than the sun. We have, after all, seen you shine in the years that accompany youth. Now that you leave this phase of your life, and know the light that is in you, may you never fear its manifestation nor shy from its brightness.

"It's time to decide how you want to make a difference in your life, your community and your nation. May your prospects and unique passions within you guide you through hard times that are yet to come. As your Hokage and headmaster, I wish you the best and every success from the bottom of my heart."

With that, Minato finished his speech with his trade mark facial expression – an eye-blinding bright smile. When he returned his gaze to the audience, he saw the people continued to applaud while they were gradually all standing up. He walked to his seat and sat down, relaxing his shoulders at long last.

Somehow he'd earned himself a standing ovation for his speech. He'd delivered his message with care and targeted the core of every person's heart. It was personal and real. Minato had decided that if he wanted to gain their acceptance, he had to bond with everyone. He'd shown his true strength: that included talking about his repentance openly to the public. It was difficult, but it worked. The parents and staff were well impressed by the young Hokage's wisdom and the power held in his words; the Third was very pleased with his successor's triumph; the students looked up to the man with sparkling eyes as they were inspired to chase their own dreams. Minato stood up again to show his regard to the appreciation he was getting. He held out his arms to gesture to the audience and took a light bow before sitting back down again.

Finally, there was the long-awaited part of the ceremony - Students received their diplomas one by one, names called out by their homeroom teacher, with their exam results announced if they were of top grades. Students walked across the platform, and received the certificate from the Hokage's hands and were congratulated by him. The graduates were eager to get their own acceptance as a shinobi of Konohagakure.

"Namikaze Yuna. 98%, A*, Distinction."

The girl walked up the stairs with her lips lifted tight on her cheeks. She held out both hands as she received the scroll from the blonde headmaster.

"Well done." Minato's eyes were gleaming with pride and his smile was radiating with joy when he customarily gave praise to the girl.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Bowing and looking back at the proud father, she was beaming sweetly as well.

Kushina, who was sitting and watching in the audience seats, could not help but elicit a few tears of happiness.

* * *

For Yuna, D-day was the day after the graduation. She was thrilled to receive the forehead protector, as it signified her new role as a fellow kunoichi of Konohagakure, but she was more eager to know who would be in her genin team than anything else. She was hoping that her papa would keep his promise. In a pair of black cotton haren pants, a white tank top with a long-sleeve dark camouflage hoodie unzipped, Yuna looked at herself the mirror to fix her hair and turn her protector into a hairband. Smiling satisfyingly at her reflection, she was ready to go. She put her sandals on and headed to the classroom she was told to meet up with her team in.

Her parents had already left the house. They departed as soon as they had breakfast. _Of course, they must be busy today_, Yuna thought to herself as she walked through the academy's corridor the first day in her life as a genin, not a student, nor the Hokage's daughter on her way to visit her father. She almost split up the stairs to get to her appointed classroom and nearly tripped over the mopped floor by accident. There, she arrived at the door. She took a moment to catch her breath and rested her hand on the door handle. She hesitated. Filled with excitement and great anticipation, the sudden sensation of the fluttering of butterflies formed in the depths of her stomach. She then slowly slid opened the door with a nervous smile.

"Good morning."

Yuna's eyes snapped to the owner of the voice, a boy sitting on the teacher's desk. Recognising that it was her ex-academic partner, she grinned. She walked up to him and held out her hand. He returned her high five and held a questioning expression on his face.

"Good morning to you, too." Frowning lightly, she was already thinking about the next thing and talking to herself out loud. "At least this part went as planned, but where's the third person on this team?"

_Typical Yuna_, though Itachi, and he chuckled in absolute silence. He was _scared_ to be caught laughing at her. But little did he know, he was one of the very few people she was comfortable to have around for her to talk so openly.

"How would I know if you don't know?" Itachi guessed she must have done something for this to happen smoothly. Moments later, he asked curiously, "Do you know who's our sensei?" while giving her a funny look. He too glad that there were no girls in his team; to him, Yuna was not a girl. She was a friend.

"Well, let's just hope papa will give me what I asked for."

"Who is it?"

"We'll see."

In a carefree style, a teenager entered the room. He had short, unkempt, dark-coloured hair and a relatively broad nose and well-defined eyelashes. He wore an attire almost identical to Itachi's. It was a high-collared, dark-coloured outfit along with a tantō strapped to the right side of the back of his shoulder.

Itachi faced the newcomer and greeted him welcomingly. "Good to see you. What're you doing here?"

"I was told to meet you guys up here at 9." The older boy held his arms open. He turned his mouth into the shape of a frown – it was formed by pulling the corners of his lips dramatically downward, while he was giving a dumbfounded stare at the other two.

Itachi did not understand. "But you're a chunin."

"I know, but this is Hokage-sama's decision. I'm doing this for my Jonin exam preparation as well." He tilted his head sideway when answering the question.

Yuna stood there, watching the two boys uncertainly, and broke the exchange of conversation between them. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but who exactly are you?"

The taller boy turned to face Yuna, and then smiled "big time".

"Hello there. Nice to meet you. You must be Yuna. My name's Uchiha Shisui. I've been ordered to be the third member on this team. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!" He offered a friendly hand shake. Yuna took his hand and continued questioning.

"Nice to meet you too. Are you and Itachi by any chance…?"

"Yeah, we're cousins; well, second cousins. Meh… same thing. Same clan, Uchiha, obviously." With a nonchalant smirk, he added, "Oh-, and I've been watching Itachi grow up since he was a baby 'til this very second, pretty much."

"You're only six years older than me," Itachi stated flatly.

"So? Who played with you when you were a toddler? Me! Because I was the second-youngest Uchiha at the time." Pointing both of his hands to himself, Shisui raised his eyebrows, opened his eyes wide and pursing his mouth into an "O" shape.

"So, you're his babysitter?" Yuna giggled lightly at the thought of Itachi being babysat.

Giving Yuna a playful wink, Shisui emphasised his "importance" in Itachi's early childhood. "You can say that." He loved making fun of his little cousin.

Itachi sighed deeply at this distasteful hobby. "You just _have_ to embarrass me."

"Yuna's your friend. I'm sure she understands. Anyway, that's nothing to be ashamed of. I'm probably one of the most entertaining babysitters in the market."

"What do you mean?"

"I have worked with children before and I'm rather good at it."

"That's right. That's exactly why we need him here," cut in the voice of Kushina as she entered the classroom. Itachi looked up at the woman, puzzling at the situation.

He set aside the surprised in his voice and asked calmly, "Kushina-obasan?"

Saying 'no' with her index finger, Kushina corrected him pompously. "It's Kushina-sensei now." Suddenly, she rejoiced at her success. "_Yes!_ You won't be calling me obasan!"

Meanwhile, there were footsteps following closely behind. Yuna was still facing Shisui, but she soon turned her attention to the footsteps. Minato was walking in.

Yuna first gave a huge smile at her mother, then she ran and hugged her father.

"Yes!" With her emerald orbs glistening as much as her smile, she looked up to the man's sapphire blue eyes with overwhelmed thankfulness. "I love you, papa. Did I tell you that?"

"Yes, you did, and I'm your Hokage if we're in public, remember?" Minato reminded his darling little girl.

"I know, I know. It's only Raido, Genma and us, _Hokage-sama_." Light-heartedly, Yuna was winding him up for fun. Minato didn't mind. It was true. There wasn't anyone else apart from them.

"Are you happy now?"

She grinned. "Very."

* * *

A/N: I wish I could upload this earlier for Itachi's birthday, only if this website let me! T.T

Anyway...

Happy Birthday! Itachi-chama!


	19. Life as a Shinobi

**Chapter 19 – Life as a Shinobi**

Mission #4: Waste Picking

From the middle of March to the middle of May, the cherry-blossom front started to spread from the south and blossomed. When cherry blossoms were in bloom, Hanami was the outing activity everyone went to. Under trees of soothing cherry flowers, they enjoyed the beauty of spring along with sake and snacks in cheerful feasts. One of the most popular venues was none other than the national park – a place for everyone to explore, enjoy, and last for the future generations. It was filled with people days after days and ultimately the litters that were left behind by irresponsible citizens were also piling up. As the national park was a treasure of the country, something must be done before it was ruined. If the people were to ignore the warning, despite the sign clearly displayed at the entrance in bold, and instead continued to litter, it was useless to give any more formal warnings. The Fire Daimyo had recently passed a law that there would be a fine of 2000 ryō if one was caught littering in the national park. Yet, there were still people leaving rubbish behind.

The Hokage decided that Konohagakure would help by sending their shinobi to tend to the problem. Fifteen genin teams were assigned to this mission. They were to take all trash out of the national park and remind anyone about to litter to be responsible for his or her actions. It was for a great cause and was a good exercise for the newly-formed genin teams to build up their teamwork with this non-life-threatening mission.

Wearing glowing-like yellow jackets with hoods up, wearing gloves with thick toughtek reinforced palm and thumb patches for superior grip, armed with grip 'N' grab pickers in the right hands, and carrying bin bags in their left hands, Team 13 was ready to start their mission. Standing in the middle of national park, there was a disheartened teen, a keen boy and a complaining girl.

The female member of the team mentally scurried at the thought of picking up wastes. Looking around, she saw used packaging wraps, broken glasses, scrabbled tins with the last drops of juice dripping at the edge, and rotten banana skins.

The boys started without her.

Using the ingenious designed tool, they were able to pick up most of the rubbish without direct contact. Although the job itself was not glamorous, the picker made it easier and more hygienic. Nonetheless, the sight of waste, especially made by other people, was not pleasant.

_Eww._

She stood unmoving when the boys began their mission; she watched them. The teen expertly picked and dropped trash into the black bag; while the younger boy kneeled down to gather the broken glasses he found dangerously hidden in grass with his hands. A feeling of disgrace was increasingly swelling up inside her. She was feeling embarrassed to have not done anything yet to help their team in this mission, but she refused to touch any of it. Resulting from her breaking free from her inner turmoil, there was an unexpected outburst.

"Nobody's going to get me to pick up trash today!" Her eyes were closed and she stood at the spot for the last five minutes. Slowly opening her eyelids, she realised she had screeched out loud like a dolphin as she had the general public's eyes gawking at her. With her face flushed like an apple, she gave an uneasy smile and excused herself apologetically. She then focused her gaze on her shoes. The boys rapidly made their way back to her as soon as they put the piece of rubbish they picked up into their bin bags.

Raising his eyebrows, Shisui informed her with a baffled face, "Hime, you're under your father's order." He knew she didn't like people calling her "princess," but he thought it was fitting in this situation.

Hearing her taboo, Yuna continued her tantrum with a "hmph." She did not care. Okay, she would have got on with the job if it was another day. But no, today was her special day.

Yuna pouted her discontent at her father's poor choice of mission distribution. "He's being mean." If her papa was the one who taught her how to celebrate her living on that day, why was he doing this to her? Yes, they were one of the genin teams assigned to this mission, but surely they could have arranged and swapped their slot with another team?

In time, Itachi took a quick look at their surroundings, glimpsed at the older boy's facial expression, and finally returned his gaze to Yuna. He came up with a solution.

Itachi pointed to the wooden bench a few yards away. "Right. How about this? You sit there and wait, and we'll do it," he suggested sympathetically.

"Um… where's the 'we' in this?" Protested the assistant team leader. "I haven't agreed to…" Shisui stared at the younger boy with his slightly enlarged eyes; his mouth stopped at a narrow 'O' shape upon the last word he had spoken before he was cut off by Itachi.

Holding out a hand, he made a gesture to stop Shisui's objection. "I've got it. It's fine." Itachi mutely heaved a sigh and gave a reassuring smile to the girl. Immediately, Yuna put down her tools and took off her illuminating waterproof jacket. She flashed the boys a thankful smile and went on her adventure with nature.

As she departed, Shisui asked, "Seriously, why're we doing this?"

Shisui thought that was very interesting. Itachi never had to do any chores at home. After all, being rich and the heir of a clan had its advantages. Picking up trash was certainly a new concept to the heir of Uchiha.

Meanwhile, Yuna was walking around the park for her own entertainment.

From a distance behind, Itachi watched as the blunette stretched out her arms to catch the fallen sakura petals that were dancing in breeze. Her plait swung as she spun to catch the petal she had her eyes on. A smile was brought up from the bottom of his heart. From his experience, Itachi knew Yuna would be in bad mood if she had to do something unwillingly. He did not want drama and he just want to move on to the next task.

"Our mission," Itachi plainly answered, his face becoming once again neutral as he faced Shisui. He would never show unnecessary emotion as a shinobi – wishing a friend's happiness.

"No. Why're we doing this for Yuna?" Shisui pressed further. He didn't mind finishing the job with just the two of them working, or even all by himself. Both Itachi and he were more than capable of that and he knew it. It would take them an hour at most, anyway.

In a calm voice, the younger boy unwillingly confessed. "It's her birthday today."

"I know. We're going to her party afterwards. But still, you're spoiling her too much."

What Shisui had implied was that Itachi was going down the road of their Hokage. As a teammate and her senpai, he didn't think letting Yuna get everything just the way she wanted it was a good idea.

Just then, an epiphany hit him.

"I just want to get this done," replied Itachi.

Maybe the Fourth had predicted this outcome from the very beginning. If Yuna was happy with the mission, great; if Yuna was not, there was Itachi who wouldn't mind doing her job for her, and there was Shisui who didn't really care.

Before going back to the task, Shisui took a last glance at the girl. She was clearly enjoying herself and her father must have known she liked places like the national park.

_Wow, Yondaime-sama really does spoil her too much._

* * *

Mission #11: Finding Hamtaro

Knowing that they might have to peep through every single hole in Konohagakure like three idiots, they all came out from the Mission Assignment Desk with heavy sighs.

"Heh. I sure missed the days of D-rank missions. Notorious and useless," spoke Shisui, shaking his head.

Hearing such sarcasm, Yuna rolled her eyes and dryly replied, "Are you being funny here?" She was not amused to say the least, not after knowing that she might have to crawl through every inch of the village; she flinched at his sour humour.

"I'm trying." Putting up a fake smile, Shisui showed his "hurt feelings." To change the mood, Itachi attempted to encourage his teammates in the hopes that they would finish the task faster.

"Let's find that hamster so we can move on to the next mission."

"Really? We'll just get the day off if we finish this quicker," Yuna deadpanned in response to her friend's enthusiasm. She wanted to spend more time with them. It wasn't like she couldn't entertain herself or anything; she was more than happy to draw anytime, but it would be nice to have company.

Itachi attempted to motivate them again. "True, but then it'll show our working proficiency as a team and individuals, and then, we'll probably get even higher rank missions sooner. Also, this is actually a C-rank mission, because hamster is a considerably smaller pet. It's harder to find."

It was a tiring process, trying to get them to just get on with it. He learned that in order to convey anything to these two, one had to try at least twice. If it worked on the first try, it must be a lucky day.

Although on paper they were officially a genin team, it was a team specially organised with a jonin candidate as the assistant leader leading two genin with chunin-level skills independently in less demanding missions. Minato thought it was the best way to fulfil his promise to Yuna and sort out the uneven number in graduates that year. And so he had enough confidence in them to give them their first C-rank mission by the end of their second week into shinobi life.

Shisui brightened at the mention of an early day. "Having the afternoon off sounds good to me." He would love to have some time to himself these days. Watching over these two children who were not very child-like was more exhausting and mentally draining than watching over real children; that was on top of the D-rank - oh, sorry, and some silly C-rank missions.

"But we probably won't get our afternoon off. Kushina-sensei said to come back to her as soon as we finish. I'm assuming she'll probably train us?"

Shisui cursed. "Damn, and I was thinking I could freshen up before my date tonight! Oh well, let's get going." The other two gave him strange looks about his fruitless plan.

But Itachi'd done it. For their team to carry out a mission with maximum efficiency, persuasion was necessary in Yuna's case. He knew both Shisui and Yuna had no problem with the missions. Well, they did. Their problem was complaining non-stop about how pointless the missions were. With Yuna and Itachi just graduating from the academy, they had to go through the lower rank missions for experience; as for Shisui, he should know better what was installed for him to be the third member of a genin team – He had to relive the mind-numbing life he had three years ago.

Yuna became excited and ready to work fully. "Yeah~! We can work more on fuuinjutsu. Hurry up, guys!"

"Not again…" As Shisui was a genjutsu specialist, he moaned dejectedly at the thought of the training coming at him after lunch. A genjutsu user's worst enemy was fuuinjutsu user, and Kushina happened to be the mistress of fuuinjutsu.

_-Flashback-_

From the appointed classroom for Team 13, the new formed trio was lead to the Seventh Training Ground. With the Hokage's eyes on the youngsters, they stood uncomfortably in the middle of the field. Kushina announced their test before the finalisation of this team, her hands on her waist.

Facing the younger boy and her baby girl, she began, "I don't see anything point in testing you two if you're ready to become shinobi, because you very well are. On the other hand, you two can't be let off that easily. So, you two are going to fight Shisui together."

Minato thought it was the quickest way test out all their abilities. In their graduation exams, they only needed to demonstrate genin-standard requirements and they did not want to make the situation more awkward for teachers than it already was – it was definite that those two were holding back when they were fighting their teachers in the exam for obvious reasons. In other words, they had not taken accurate assessments of their full potential yet. In the back of his mind, there was the detailed account of the children's fall-out before their friendship spilt out of Kakashi against his will; Minato came up with this formation when he was observing their fight on Class Observation Day, but he had to make sure he had made the right decision. So there, he rested his arm on his wife's shoulder lovingly and watched like a hawk.

It was terrifying to have that much attention coming from the Hokage, Shisui thought. Then, he made a protest to the inequality he was getting.

With no tension in his mouth, Shisui dropped his jaw and spoke about the astonishing task he was given. "That's not fair on my part." He maintained his wide eyes with his upper eye lid raised and his lower eye lid drawn down, exposing the more whiteness above and below his black iris.

"Good training for you then."

_That's why people call her the oni-jonin instructor._

Grasping the purpose of this test, Itachi decided to make his stance. He faced his older cousin and told him straight in his face, "I'm not going to hold back, and I don't think Yuna will either." It was clear that the couple wanted to see them fighting to their best. Itachi didn't think it would do them any good to hold back at this stage, and he thought it was necessary to let his teacher know what he was capable of if he wanted to further improve.

When Shisui recalled what he heard about the accident to the academy's training ground about two months ago, cold sweat nervously dropped from the sides of his face. "I've heard rumours about you burning two thirds of the training ground, while she managed to scratch you quite a bit, with poison too." He clenched his teeth together and formed horizontal lines of thought on his forehead, cocking a brow. "So please hold back, the both of you. It's a win-win situation for us all."

Facing Itachi and Yuna, Shisui finished talking his way out with a sly smile and held his thumbs up beside his face.

"Give yourself some credit, Shisui. I know what you're capable of." Kushina thought the teen's worries were uncalled-for. She strongly believed he should be able to handle it.

"Yeah, sensei. I don't know what Yuna can do, but I know about Itachi. I spar with him very often. Can I just say? He can keep up with me easily. With two people roughly at his level, I'm not so sure I can do so well anymore." Shisui desperately tried to get himself out of that situation. He did not want an injury right after he had just recovered from another one.

Kushina was growing impatient at his hopeless attempt at stalling.

"How are you going to become a Jonin if you can't even do this?" Said the red-haired woman, irritated.

With her long hair flying wildly, the Red-Hot-blooded Habanero was in action. Minato promptly took his hand off her. He fanned his wife, waving his hands up and down, mouthed silently "calm down, honey," and stared sternly at Shisui to give him an indication that he better do something quick. Fearing for his impending doom, Shisui changed his 'attitude' instantaneously. In a quieted voice, as he knew he could postpone it no longer, he spoke timidly with his eyes fixed on the ground:

"I'll give it a go."

"I'm sure you're really good, Shisui-niisan. You're just saying that to catch us off-guard." Yuna was getting herself into a battle position. With an encouraging smile, she took out a kunai from her tool bag. Next to her, Itachi had already activated his Sharingan with a kunai in his hand.

Taking a good look at their prepared and trained posture, Shisui was getting seriously worried that perhaps it was he who wouldn't be going down so pretty.

"Like I said, I'm not so sure myself." At that, his gaze turned red and he disappeared in a split second.

The ground was so full of craters that it also almost looked like it was hit by an earthquake; the pond turned into a pathetic puddle of water; shuriken and kunai were scattered all over the training ground like needles on the back of a porcupine. After an intense battle lasting for two hours, Kushina gained a deeper understanding of Shisui's concerns from his point of view.

The teamwork between Itachi and Yuna was remarkable. It reminded Minato of the times he had faced A-B combo during the Third Shinobi World War. Without words, Itachi and Yuna had an unspoken understanding of each other. Just like the Kumo brothers, they covered for each other effortlessly. Itachi had expected the coming of Shisui's genjutsu and was sure that Shisui was going to use genjutsu on Yuna, as it was the first time they fought. Despite Yuna having a notable knowledge concerning genjutsu, Shisui's genjutsu was of no ordinary kind. Itachi dispelled it for her without a second thought and distracted him for her escape. When Shisui prepared a surprise attack for Itachi, Yuna guarded him from an explosion with a shield she made of pond water. To enhance their attack and to repel Shisui's fire technique, they collaborated their jutsu of wind and fire to strengthen the blow against what their opponent had in store.

They knew exactly what they were doing and they were excellent at it.

Although Shisui won at long last, he was shattered, as he used up all his chakra. To be able to push Uchiha Shisui, a celebrated prodigy of the Uchiha clan thus far, Itachi and Yuna were already at the level of well-trained chunin. Kushina knew they were very gifted in own ways, but she did not expect that – She did not expect the children to be this advanced in their progress. Minato smiled, knowing that he had made the right decision and Kushina was glad that she put up a barrier to prevent damage outside the training ground could have been without its protection.

_-Back to Mission #11-_

Shisui had been walking around the last ten streets with his Sharingan on. The eyes granted the user incredible clarity and perception. It gave colour to chakra, allowing the wielder to differentiate them. Although it allowed him to easily recognise different forms of chakra, it did not have the same extent as the Byakugan, nor did it give them the power to see through solid.

"I've got it!" Shisui shouted as he spotted a petite animal hiding inside a pipe 300 metres away.

"You've got it?" The girl asked in excitement.

Aiming at the top of the pipe, he picked up a small stone from the road and tossed it lightly to cause the pipe to vibrate so the animal would come out. The boy and the girl stopped their search and went to him.

A grey-haired four legged petite animal came out of the pipe, ran across the street and hid back into the shadow. The size of the animal was about right. 8.6 cm. However, the colour was totally off. The little thing was damp with sewer water. They were searching for a Syrian hamster with golden hair, not a rat.

The girl was not impressed; the boy who walked back had missed what just happened a moment before his arrival. However, he heard the girl muttering a 'che,' so he took a few seconds to read what was underneath their leader's motionless facial expression.

Itachi went back to his search, Yuna glared at Shisui cynically, and Shisui stood there like a fool.

The girl then whined querulously, "How's that, Hamtaro? That's definitely a rat." Along with her critical comment, she also gave him the evil eyes.

To defend his honour, Shisui spoke up again impulsively.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I was born an Uchiha, not a Hyuuga."

At that, Itachi turned his head and looked at him with odd eyes, Yuna was cracking, and Shisui covered his mouth in absolute disbelief.

He did _not_ just say that.

* * *

Mission #20: Slash-and-burn

Kushina was supposed to supervise this C-rank mission, but she was busy with another mission that day. That left Shisui in charge of the team again. Today, their mission was to assist the local farmers with this agricultural process to nitrify the land for future usage. When they arrived, the farmers already had the vegetation cut and it was dried for the burning process.

"Isn't this great? We're paid to practice." Shisui lost his mind and cackled like a psycho. The mission was indeed easy as pie for the three of them. Itachi elbowed the older boy discreetly, implying that he should at least try to contain himself and be a bit more subtle. At the side, Yuna stared back at the farmers with the same eyes that they were given.

The farmers were looking at them with doubts. They didn't think two children and a mad teenager were physically capable of ploughing through 500 acres in one day, never mind burning the fields using whatever means they could.

Obviously, they didn't know who they were.

"I can't use any fire techniques. What am I supposed to do?" Yuna asked in boredom.

Itachi turned to face her with a reassuring smile. "Watch out for us. There's a lake nearby. You need to be ready if we accidentally start to burn areas that we're not supposed to burn." With their skill in controlling fire, he knew that was too unlikely to happen, but he didn't want his friend to feel being left out.

Yuna responded her friend's encouragement in Shisui's style. "Haha! That's very funny. You make it sound like I'm capable of putting out fire made by the two of you." With her green eyes widened, she used her index finger to tap her skull, and twisted it back and forth in a repetitive motion.

Itachi chuckled at her silliness. She must have been really bored. "Let's hope so, just in case there's an accident."

"Hey you! Stop chatting. Copy my doton so we can get this going!" Shisui called out, catching that girl mocking him from the corner of his eyes. Itachi turned away from her and did what he was told immediately. Clearly, Shisui was trying out his skills in commanding.

It felt good, Shisui thought.

"Doton: Daichidōkaku (Earth Style: Vast Mobile Core)!"

Shisui and Itachi used the earth technique together to loosen up the ground. In less than a minute's time, the soil looked like it was turned by all workers in farm for a whole day. The workers were not expecting the impact made by the boys. Then, they moved onto the part – removing vegetation, driving away pests, and providing a burst of nutrients for planting through burning. Yes, burning.

Yuna kindly gave a warning to the farmers. "Please step back. They're going to use a fire technique to set the fields on fire." The farmers looked at her as if she had grown two heads. She returned the peculiar look she was getting with a polite smile. She gestured them to step aside for safety and stood with them.

"Katon: Uchiha Daiendan (Fire Style: Uchiha Giant Flame)!"

Just like that, they set the fields on fire.

The adults were too shocked to speak. It took a lot less time than they could ever imagine slashing-and-burning would take. In fifteen minutes, they managed to reduce 50 acres to ash. It would've taken an hour to set that vast area solely on fire, and then they would have to wait for it to burn out naturally. With those two firebreathers, not only did they manage to ignite fire out of nowhere, they could also control the exact strength and direction of which they wanted the blaze.

"Hey, want a go, Yuna?" Shisui yelled out.

The girl looked back at him weirdly. "You want me to use wind release to strengthen the fire?" She didn't think it was a good idea at all. If she was not careful, she could spread the fire everywhere and end up burning everything.

"It's fun." Shisui tempted her with squinted eyes. Then, he turned to speak to the farm's owner in his serious self. "Tanaka-san, I hope you won't mind if we speed up the process."

"Not at all."

If the worker could finish the job quicker, it'd be even better. In all honesty, who would mind?

"I'm here to supervise you and I'll put out the fire if it gets too bad." Shisui felt that he shouldn't steal all the fun, and should let the poor girl to have a go.

"You know water techniques?" Yuna asked surprisingly.

Shisui pointed his fingers to his enflamed eyes with a '"duh" look. She understood. The Sharingan.

"Not as adaptable as you, but I can use it well enough."

To give him a taste of his own medicine, Yuna raised her eyebrow slightly and stared at him with her eyes unusually widened, imitating one of his infamously-exaggerating facial expressions.

Frowned, Shisui titled his head and shook his head. "No, just... _no_. I have copyright on that look. I'm sorry, but that's just not good enough." Self-righteously, Shisui showed her how it was done, also adding a sly grin to that trait of his; in return, Yuna gave him the evil eyes.

Itachi was watching the sight gag at the side. His consciousness told him to silence his laughter.

"Stick with your pouts. Shisui's look doesn't work for you." Itachi offered his honest opinion with a light chuckle.

Hearing Itachi's discouragement, Yuna responded naturally and subconsciously with a pout. Itachi took a glimpse at her reaction and said as calmly as he could, "That's better." He walked away before he was caught in a laughing fit.

* * *

_Info for Readers_

**Hamtaro**

The Adventures of Hamtaro (とっとこハム太郎, Tottoko Hamutarō, literally Trotting Hamtaro) is a children's storybook series by Ritsuko Kawai. There is also an anime adaption to the story. The main character is a hamster named Hamtaro. After moving into a new town, Hamtaro finds that he's in the company of lots of different hamsters, making up a group of hamster friends that go on crazy adventures through the city.

Basically, the plot is about a hamster running away from his cage.

**Oni ****(****鬼****)**

Oni is a kind of supernatural monsters in Japanese Folklore. It is variously translated as as demons, devils, ogres or trolls. In modern terms, when someone is described as an oni humorously, it suggests that person is so 'evil' as if he or she descends from hell.

You get the drill. ;)

**Sorry, guys... Things came up suddenly. HIATUS! Will be back!**


	20. False Sense of Security

**Chapter 19 – Life as a Shinobi**

Mission #4: Waste Picking

From the middle of March to the middle of May, the cherry-blossom front started to spread from the south and blossomed. When cherry blossoms were in bloom, Hanami was the outing activity everyone went to. Under trees of soothing cherry flowers, they enjoyed the beauty of spring along with sake and snacks in cheerful feasts. One of the most popular venues was none other than the national park – a place for everyone to explore, enjoy, and last for the future generations. It was filled with people days after days and ultimately the litters that were left behind by irresponsible citizens were also piling up. As the national park was a treasure of the country, something must be done before it was ruined. If the people were to ignore the warning, despite the sign clearly displayed at the entrance in bold, and instead continued to litter, it was useless to give any more formal warnings. The Fire Daimyo had recently passed a law that there would be a fine of 2000 ryō if one was caught littering in the national park. Yet, there were still people leaving rubbish behind.

The Hokage decided that Konohagakure would help by sending their shinobi to tend to the problem. Fifteen genin teams were assigned to this mission. They were to take all trash out of the national park and remind anyone about to litter to be responsible for his or her actions. It was for a great cause and was a good exercise for the newly-formed genin teams to build up their teamwork with this non-life-threatening mission.

Wearing glowing-like yellow jackets with hoods up, wearing gloves with thick toughtek reinforced palm and thumb patches for superior grip, armed with grip 'N' grab pickers in the right hands, and carrying bin bags in their left hands, Team 13 was ready to start their mission. Standing in the middle of national park, there was a disheartened teen, a keen boy and a complaining girl.

The female member of the team mentally scurried at the thought of picking up wastes. Looking around, she saw used packaging wraps, broken glasses, scrabbled tins with the last drops of juice dripping at the edge, and rotten banana skins.

The boys started without her.

Using the ingenious designed tool, they were able to pick up most of the rubbish without direct contact. Although the job itself was not glamorous, the picker made it easier and more hygienic. Nonetheless, the sight of waste, especially made by other people, was not pleasant.

_Eww._

She stood unmoving when the boys began their mission; she watched them. The teen expertly picked and dropped trash into the black bag; while the younger boy kneeled down to gather the broken glasses he found dangerously hidden in grass with his hands. A feeling of disgrace was increasingly swelling up inside her. She was feeling embarrassed to have not done anything yet to help their team in this mission, but she refused to touch any of it. Resulting from her breaking free from her inner turmoil, there was an unexpected outburst.

"Nobody's going to get me to pick up trash today!" Her eyes were closed and she stood at the spot for the last five minutes. Slowly opening her eyelids, she realised she had screeched out loud like a dolphin as she had the general public's eyes gawking at her. With her face flushed like an apple, she gave an uneasy smile and excused herself apologetically. She then focused her gaze on her shoes. The boys rapidly made their way back to her as soon as they put the piece of rubbish they picked up into their bin bags.

Raising his eyebrows, Shisui informed her with a baffled face, "Hime, you're under your father's order." He knew she didn't like people calling her "princess," but he thought it was fitting in this situation.

Hearing her taboo, Yuna continued her tantrum with a "hmph." She did not care. Okay, she would have got on with the job if it was another day. But no, today was her special day.

Yuna pouted her discontent at her father's poor choice of mission distribution. "He's being mean." If her papa was the one who taught her how to celebrate her living on that day, why was he doing this to her? Yes, they were one of the genin teams assigned to this mission, but surely they could have arranged and swapped their slot with another team?

In time, Itachi took a quick look at their surroundings, glimpsed at the older boy's facial expression, and finally returned his gaze to Yuna. He came up with a solution.

Itachi pointed to the wooden bench a few yards away. "Right. How about this? You sit there and wait, and we'll do it," he suggested sympathetically.

"Um… where's the 'we' in this?" Protested the assistant team leader. "I haven't agreed to…" Shisui stared at the younger boy with his slightly enlarged eyes; his mouth stopped at a narrow 'O' shape upon the last word he had spoken before he was cut off by Itachi.

Holding out a hand, he made a gesture to stop Shisui's objection. "I've got it. It's fine." Itachi mutely heaved a sigh and gave a reassuring smile to the girl. Immediately, Yuna put down her tools and took off her illuminating waterproof jacket. She flashed the boys a thankful smile and went on her adventure with nature.

As she departed, Shisui asked, "Seriously, why're we doing this?"

Shisui thought that was very interesting. Itachi never had to do any chores at home. After all, being rich and the heir of a clan had its advantages. Picking up trash was certainly a new concept to the heir of Uchiha.

Meanwhile, Yuna was walking around the park for her own entertainment.

From a distance behind, Itachi watched as the blunette stretched out her arms to catch the fallen sakura petals that were dancing in breeze. Her plait swung as she spun to catch the petal she had her eyes on. A smile was brought up from the bottom of his heart. From his experience, Itachi knew Yuna would be in bad mood if she had to do something unwillingly. He did not want drama and he just want to move on to the next task.

"Our mission," Itachi plainly answered, his face becoming once again neutral as he faced Shisui. He would never show unnecessary emotion as a shinobi – wishing a friend's happiness.

"No. Why're we doing this for Yuna?" Shisui pressed further. He didn't mind finishing the job with just the two of them working, or even all by himself. Both Itachi and he were more than capable of that and he knew it. It would take them an hour at most, anyway.

In a calm voice, the younger boy unwillingly confessed. "It's her birthday today."

"I know. We're going to her party afterwards. But still, you're spoiling her too much."

What Shisui had implied was that Itachi was going down the road of their Hokage. As a teammate and her senpai, he didn't think letting Yuna get everything just the way she wanted it was a good idea.

Just then, an epiphany hit him.

"I just want to get this done," replied Itachi.

Maybe the Fourth had predicted this outcome from the very beginning. If Yuna was happy with the mission, great; if Yuna was not, there was Itachi who wouldn't mind doing her job for her, and there was Shisui who didn't really care.

Before going back to the task, Shisui took a last glance at the girl. She was clearly enjoying herself and her father must have known she liked places like the national park.

_Wow, Yondaime-sama really does spoil her too much._

* * *

Mission #11: Finding Hamtaro

Knowing that they might have to peep through every single hole in Konohagakure like three idiots, they all came out from the Mission Assignment Desk with heavy sighs.

"Heh. I sure missed the days of D-rank missions. Notorious and useless," spoke Shisui, shaking his head.

Hearing such sarcasm, Yuna rolled her eyes and dryly replied, "Are you being funny here?" She was not amused to say the least, not after knowing that she might have to crawl through every inch of the village; she flinched at his sour humour.

"I'm trying." Putting up a fake smile, Shisui showed his "hurt feelings." To change the mood, Itachi attempted to encourage his teammates in the hopes that they would finish the task faster.

"Let's find that hamster so we can move on to the next mission."

"Really? We'll just get the day off if we finish this quicker," Yuna deadpanned in response to her friend's enthusiasm. She wanted to spend more time with them. It wasn't like she couldn't entertain herself or anything; she was more than happy to draw anytime, but it would be nice to have company.

Itachi attempted to motivate them again. "True, but then it'll show our working proficiency as a team and individuals, and then, we'll probably get even higher rank missions sooner. Also, this is actually a C-rank mission, because hamster is a considerably smaller pet. It's harder to find."

It was a tiring process, trying to get them to just get on with it. He learned that in order to convey anything to these two, one had to try at least twice. If it worked on the first try, it must be a lucky day.

Although on paper they were officially a genin team, it was a team specially organised with a jonin candidate as the assistant leader leading two genin with chunin-level skills independently in less demanding missions. Minato thought it was the best way to fulfil his promise to Yuna and sort out the uneven number in graduates that year. And so he had enough confidence in them to give them their first C-rank mission by the end of their second week into shinobi life.

Shisui brightened at the mention of an early day. "Having the afternoon off sounds good to me." He would love to have some time to himself these days. Watching over these two children who were not very child-like was more exhausting and mentally draining than watching over real children; that was on top of the D-rank - oh, sorry, and some silly C-rank missions.

"But we probably won't get our afternoon off. Kushina-sensei said to come back to her as soon as we finish. I'm assuming she'll probably train us?"

Shisui cursed. "Damn, and I was thinking I could freshen up before my date tonight! Oh well, let's get going." The other two gave him strange looks about his fruitless plan.

But Itachi'd done it. For their team to carry out a mission with maximum efficiency, persuasion was necessary in Yuna's case. He knew both Shisui and Yuna had no problem with the missions. Well, they did. Their problem was complaining non-stop about how pointless the missions were. With Yuna and Itachi just graduating from the academy, they had to go through the lower rank missions for experience; as for Shisui, he should know better what was installed for him to be the third member of a genin team – He had to relive the mind-numbing life he had three years ago.

Yuna became excited and ready to work fully. "Yeah~! We can work more on fuuinjutsu. Hurry up, guys!"

"Not again…" As Shisui was a genjutsu specialist, he moaned dejectedly at the thought of the training coming at him after lunch. A genjutsu user's worst enemy was fuuinjutsu user, and Kushina happened to be the mistress of fuuinjutsu.

_-Flashback-_

From the appointed classroom for Team 13, the new formed trio was lead to the Seventh Training Ground. With the Hokage's eyes on the youngsters, they stood uncomfortably in the middle of the field. Kushina announced their test before the finalisation of this team, her hands on her waist.

Facing the younger boy and her baby girl, she began, "I don't see anything point in testing you two if you're ready to become shinobi, because you very well are. On the other hand, you two can't be let off that easily. So, you two are going to fight Shisui together."

Minato thought it was the quickest way test out all their abilities. In their graduation exams, they only needed to demonstrate genin-standard requirements and they did not want to make the situation more awkward for teachers than it already was – it was definite that those two were holding back when they were fighting their teachers in the exam for obvious reasons. In other words, they had not taken accurate assessments of their full potential yet. In the back of his mind, there was the detailed account of the children's fall-out before their friendship spilt out of Kakashi against his will; Minato came up with this formation when he was observing their fight on Class Observation Day, but he had to make sure he had made the right decision. So there, he rested his arm on his wife's shoulder lovingly and watched like a hawk.

It was terrifying to have that much attention coming from the Hokage, Shisui thought. Then, he made a protest to the inequality he was getting.

With no tension in his mouth, Shisui dropped his jaw and spoke about the astonishing task he was given. "That's not fair on my part." He maintained his wide eyes with his upper eye lid raised and his lower eye lid drawn down, exposing the more whiteness above and below his black iris.

"Good training for you then."

_That's why people call her the oni-jonin instructor._

Grasping the purpose of this test, Itachi decided to make his stance. He faced his older cousin and told him straight in his face, "I'm not going to hold back, and I don't think Yuna will either." It was clear that the couple wanted to see them fighting to their best. Itachi didn't think it would do them any good to hold back at this stage, and he thought it was necessary to let his teacher know what he was capable of if he wanted to further improve.

When Shisui recalled what he heard about the accident to the academy's training ground about two months ago, cold sweat nervously dropped from the sides of his face. "I've heard rumours about you burning two thirds of the training ground, while she managed to scratch you quite a bit, with poison too." He clenched his teeth together and formed horizontal lines of thought on his forehead, cocking a brow. "So please hold back, the both of you. It's a win-win situation for us all."

Facing Itachi and Yuna, Shisui finished talking his way out with a sly smile and held his thumbs up beside his face.

"Give yourself some credit, Shisui. I know what you're capable of." Kushina thought the teen's worries were uncalled-for. She strongly believed he should be able to handle it.

"Yeah, sensei. I don't know what Yuna can do, but I know about Itachi. I spar with him very often. Can I just say? He can keep up with me easily. With two people roughly at his level, I'm not so sure I can do so well anymore." Shisui desperately tried to get himself out of that situation. He did not want an injury right after he had just recovered from another one.

Kushina was growing impatient at his hopeless attempt at stalling.

"How are you going to become a Jonin if you can't even do this?" Said the red-haired woman, irritated.

With her long hair flying wildly, the Red-Hot-blooded Habanero was in action. Minato promptly took his hand off her. He fanned his wife, waving his hands up and down, mouthed silently "calm down, honey," and stared sternly at Shisui to give him an indication that he better do something quick. Fearing for his impending doom, Shisui changed his 'attitude' instantaneously. In a quieted voice, as he knew he could postpone it no longer, he spoke timidly with his eyes fixed on the ground:

"I'll give it a go."

"I'm sure you're really good, Shisui-niisan. You're just saying that to catch us off-guard." Yuna was getting herself into a battle position. With an encouraging smile, she took out a kunai from her tool bag. Next to her, Itachi had already activated his Sharingan with a kunai in his hand.

Taking a good look at their prepared and trained posture, Shisui was getting seriously worried that perhaps it was he who wouldn't be going down so pretty.

"Like I said, I'm not so sure myself." At that, his gaze turned red and he disappeared in a split second.

The ground was so full of craters that it also almost looked like it was hit by an earthquake; the pond turned into a pathetic puddle of water; shuriken and kunai were scattered all over the training ground like needles on the back of a porcupine. After an intense battle lasting for two hours, Kushina gained a deeper understanding of Shisui's concerns from his point of view.

The teamwork between Itachi and Yuna was remarkable. It reminded Minato of the times he had faced A-B combo during the Third Shinobi World War. Without words, Itachi and Yuna had an unspoken understanding of each other. Just like the Kumo brothers, they covered for each other effortlessly. Itachi had expected the coming of Shisui's genjutsu and was sure that Shisui was going to use genjutsu on Yuna, as it was the first time they fought. Despite Yuna having a notable knowledge concerning genjutsu, Shisui's genjutsu was of no ordinary kind. Itachi dispelled it for her without a second thought and distracted him for her escape. When Shisui prepared a surprise attack for Itachi, Yuna guarded him from an explosion with a shield she made of pond water. To enhance their attack and to repel Shisui's fire technique, they collaborated their jutsu of wind and fire to strengthen the blow against what their opponent had in store.

They knew exactly what they were doing and they were excellent at it.

Although Shisui won at long last, he was shattered, as he used up all his chakra. To be able to push Uchiha Shisui, a celebrated prodigy of the Uchiha clan thus far, Itachi and Yuna were already at the level of well-trained chunin. Kushina knew they were very gifted in own ways, but she did not expect that – She did not expect the children to be this advanced in their progress. Minato smiled, knowing that he had made the right decision and Kushina was glad that she put up a barrier to prevent damage outside the training ground could have been without its protection.

_-Back to Mission #11-_

Shisui had been walking around the last ten streets with his Sharingan on. The eyes granted the user incredible clarity and perception. It gave colour to chakra, allowing the wielder to differentiate them. Although it allowed him to easily recognise different forms of chakra, it did not have the same extent as the Byakugan, nor did it give them the power to see through solid.

"I've got it!" Shisui shouted as he spotted a petite animal hiding inside a pipe 300 metres away.

"You've got it?" The girl asked in excitement.

Aiming at the top of the pipe, he picked up a small stone from the road and tossed it lightly to cause the pipe to vibrate so the animal would come out. The boy and the girl stopped their search and went to him.

A grey-haired four legged petite animal came out of the pipe, ran across the street and hid back into the shadow. The size of the animal was about right. 8.6 cm. However, the colour was totally off. The little thing was damp with sewer water. They were searching for a Syrian hamster with golden hair, not a rat.

The girl was not impressed; the boy who walked back had missed what just happened a moment before his arrival. However, he heard the girl muttering a 'che,' so he took a few seconds to read what was underneath their leader's motionless facial expression.

Itachi went back to his search, Yuna glared at Shisui cynically, and Shisui stood there like a fool.

The girl then whined querulously, "How's that, Hamtaro? That's definitely a rat." Along with her critical comment, she also gave him the evil eyes.

To defend his honour, Shisui spoke up again impulsively.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I was born an Uchiha, not a Hyuuga."

At that, Itachi turned his head and looked at him with odd eyes, Yuna was cracking, and Shisui covered his mouth in absolute disbelief.

He did _not_ just say that.

* * *

Mission #20: Slash-and-burn

Kushina was supposed to supervise this C-rank mission, but she was busy with another mission that day. That left Shisui in charge of the team again. Today, their mission was to assist the local farmers with this agricultural process to nitrify the land for future usage. When they arrived, the farmers already had the vegetation cut and it was dried for the burning process.

"Isn't this great? We're paid to practice." Shisui lost his mind and cackled like a psycho. The mission was indeed easy as pie for the three of them. Itachi elbowed the older boy discreetly, implying that he should at least try to contain himself and be a bit more subtle. At the side, Yuna stared back at the farmers with the same eyes that they were given.

The farmers were looking at them with doubts. They didn't think two children and a mad teenager were physically capable of ploughing through 500 acres in one day, never mind burning the fields using whatever means they could.

Obviously, they didn't know who they were.

"I can't use any fire techniques. What am I supposed to do?" Yuna asked in boredom.

Itachi turned to face her with a reassuring smile. "Watch out for us. There's a lake nearby. You need to be ready if we accidentally start to burn areas that we're not supposed to burn." With their skill in controlling fire, he knew that was too unlikely to happen, but he didn't want his friend to feel being left out.

Yuna responded her friend's encouragement in Shisui's style. "Haha! That's very funny. You make it sound like I'm capable of putting out fire made by the two of you." With her green eyes widened, she used her index finger to tap her skull, and twisted it back and forth in a repetitive motion.

Itachi chuckled at her silliness. She must have been really bored. "Let's hope so, just in case there's an accident."

"Hey you! Stop chatting. Copy my doton so we can get this going!" Shisui called out, catching that girl mocking him from the corner of his eyes. Itachi turned away from her and did what he was told immediately. Clearly, Shisui was trying out his skills in commanding.

It felt good, Shisui thought.

"Doton: Daichidōkaku (Earth Style: Vast Mobile Core)!"

Shisui and Itachi used the earth technique together to loosen up the ground. In less than a minute's time, the soil looked like it was turned by all workers in farm for a whole day. The workers were not expecting the impact made by the boys. Then, they moved onto the part – removing vegetation, driving away pests, and providing a burst of nutrients for planting through burning. Yes, burning.

Yuna kindly gave a warning to the farmers. "Please step back. They're going to use a fire technique to set the fields on fire." The farmers looked at her as if she had grown two heads. She returned the peculiar look she was getting with a polite smile. She gestured them to step aside for safety and stood with them.

"Katon: Uchiha Daiendan (Fire Style: Uchiha Giant Flame)!"

Just like that, they set the fields on fire.

The adults were too shocked to speak. It took a lot less time than they could ever imagine slashing-and-burning would take. In fifteen minutes, they managed to reduce 50 acres to ash. It would've taken an hour to set that vast area solely on fire, and then they would have to wait for it to burn out naturally. With those two firebreathers, not only did they manage to ignite fire out of nowhere, they could also control the exact strength and direction of which they wanted the blaze.

"Hey, want a go, Yuna?" Shisui yelled out.

The girl looked back at him weirdly. "You want me to use wind release to strengthen the fire?" She didn't think it was a good idea at all. If she was not careful, she could spread the fire everywhere and end up burning everything.

"It's fun." Shisui tempted her with squinted eyes. Then, he turned to speak to the farm's owner in his serious self. "Tanaka-san, I hope you won't mind if we speed up the process."

"Not at all."

If the worker could finish the job quicker, it'd be even better. In all honesty, who would mind?

"I'm here to supervise you and I'll put out the fire if it gets too bad." Shisui felt that he shouldn't steal all the fun, and should let the poor girl to have a go.

"You know water techniques?" Yuna asked surprisingly.

Shisui pointed his fingers to his enflamed eyes with a '"duh" look. She understood. The Sharingan.

"Not as adaptable as you, but I can use it well enough."

To give him a taste of his own medicine, Yuna raised her eyebrow slightly and stared at him with her eyes unusually widened, imitating one of his infamously-exaggerating facial expressions.

Frowned, Shisui titled his head and shook his head. "No, just... _no_. I have copyright on that look. I'm sorry, but that's just not good enough." Self-righteously, Shisui showed her how it was done, also adding a sly grin to that trait of his; in return, Yuna gave him the evil eyes.

Itachi was watching the sight gag at the side. His consciousness told him to silence his laughter.

"Stick with your pouts. Shisui's look doesn't work for you." Itachi offered his honest opinion with a light chuckle.

Hearing Itachi's discouragement, Yuna responded naturally and subconsciously with a pout. Itachi took a glimpse at her reaction and said as calmly as he could, "That's better." He walked away before he was caught in a laughing fit.

* * *

_Info for Readers_

**Hamtaro**

The Adventures of Hamtaro (とっとこハム太郎, Tottoko Hamutarō, literally Trotting Hamtaro) is a children's storybook series by Ritsuko Kawai. There is also an anime adaption to the story. The main character is a hamster named Hamtaro. After moving into a new town, Hamtaro finds that he's in the company of lots of different hamsters, making up a group of hamster friends that go on crazy adventures through the city.

Basically, the plot is about a hamster running away from his cage.

**Oni ****(****鬼****)**

Oni is a kind of supernatural monsters in Japanese Folklore. It is variously translated as as demons, devils, ogres or trolls. In modern terms, when someone is described as an oni humorously, it suggests that person is so 'evil' as if he or she descends from hell.

You get the drill. ;)


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